Mr. Meager $$$ Thoughts Blog

Just throwing gas on a fire and getting everyone all riled up into a needless frenzy. I say hysteria and chaos is the way to go. It's more newsworthy.

So LA Times has multiple updates everyday in regards the events involving IndyMac Bank. Though with FDIC in place, I am sure it is hard not to panic and let the insurance claims get your money back but who really wants to go through that process. Wouldn't it be better to just get your money while you can rather than dip into the FDIC pool. There are numerous reports of police being called to watch over these lines as people go get their money. Just last week, people were lining up to drop a few bills on the latest iPhone and now people are lineup up go get their life savings. All this news has been intriguing to ignore.

A few years ago, consumers used to complain that a gallon of milk was more expensive than a gallon of gas, which didn't make sense since milk is crucial in most of our diets. Well you see what we have now. Nice. I just calculated that I spend $7 to commute to work everyday on gas alone. I'll be content. I wish a had an expensive drug habit that I can cut back on. I have cut back on my cereal consumption. It's hard not to have my Pops.

There was a fight at the local Costco because someone cut into the line for gas. Someone behind the line pulled a tire iron and the cutter jumped back into his car and locked himself inside and called the cops. Though I don't condone violence, if you are going to be bold enough to cut into a line, then you better be man enough to standup against anyone that confronts you about it. The cops arrested the aggressor.

So rummaging through some spare change, I notice that 1 dime wasn't like the rest. It was a 1962-D dime when dimes were 90% silver. I showed it to my supervisor who is always buying older coins for her brother the coin collector. She knew it was mostly silver and wanted to the dime from me. I checked on ebay and found the low end of for this coin is about $2. Since my coin wasn't niced cared for and in a nice package, I told her it is going to cost her $1. She agreed but try to give me a Sagagawea coin, which I wasn't accepting. My hatred for the Sagagawea pretty much a whole nother entry. A dollar bill I was given and the exchange was made. This is the 2nd best profit margin I've made on a coin exchange. A few years ago I sold an older nickel to the same supervisor for $1.

1400 Points. I'm done. I'm redeeming my points for the amateur telescope. I set a goal when I started this program and I finally reached it. I'm not going to chance that they are going to extend the program past Dec 2008, so I'm going to stop accumulating. March and Febuary were big months which included a lot of dumpster diving and asking people are recycling centers for their codes. Though the telescope can be bought for $40 online, I'm going to cherish this thing like gold. 1400 points in one year but only about 50 of those were bought by me. Here's how my monthly totals came to be:
Apr 2007 30
May 2007 119
Jun 2007 158
Jul 2007 193
Aug 2007 199
Sep 2007 241
Oct 2007 260
Nov 2007 332
Dec 2007 374
Jan 2008 417
Feb 2008 695
Mar 2008 1400 (705 this month!!)

In a way scavenging lifestyle will not be missed as I migrate over to PepsiStuff program. I don't have a goal yet, but this program tends to be more popular than the coke program. I still have some unused coke cap codes left if anyone would like to trade.

Also a treat to SA bloggers who collect MCR points, provide me an email and I'll send you a 3 point cap code.

Played in a small poker game last night with 12 others. After a dragged out up and down night I was able to pull out the win and take the $190 1st prize for a $20 buy-in and I didn't have to rebuy. Sweet, now if Kansas and win the tournament, I have a good chance of taking that pot.

It's always this time of year when I regret so much not going to a Division I school. There is so much pride during the tournament time, but I have no team to stand by. Though I saved tons of money with my school of choice and now have a stable job (knock on wood), I never get to see my school on an ESPN highlight. I guess I could have gone to Cal State Fullerton (or Long Beach St 2007).

It's this time of year when production slows down as we enter the end of the week when company's bandwidth is taken up by streaming videos of basketball games. I run the office pool at my office, but only half of the entries are from those that work here as I've incorporated others who don't have an office pool. Running the office pool keeps me from going to Vegas for the tournament because I have to collect the entries Thursday morning. The time, my entries, and the free entry I give out every year is all worth it.

Who are your Final Four?

Saturday was a bit of a crazy day with my sister's wedding happening. There were schedules to keep the the world was just working against the schedule. I had to pick up some window markers to decorate a car with. I read that the 99 Cent Only Store carried them so I dropped in to pick a couple. The check out lines were packed. I don't understand how someone can have a checkout total for over $50 at the 99 cent store. That's almost 50 items in a shopping cart. Of course when I finally reached the checker, their computer system went down. I had 2 items to pay for and the wait wasn't worth it. I dropped $3 and ripped of the bar code off one of the markets and told the lady to keep the change. A waste of money but I didn't have the time to waste. At the end of the night, my sister and her husband loaned the car to 2 of the groom's men to get back to their hotel. The newlyweds took a taxi and 2 guys took the carried decorated with "Just Married."

Here's a picture of the main course:

In contrast to Debtkid's Dumbest Purchase contest, I would like to first add that one of the best purchases (dumbest purchase is below) I made was to buy myself a Nintendo DS Lite. After purchasing one for my sister, I enjoyed the games it had to offer, so I bought one for myself. It makes time in the waiting room go so much quicker. The ability to connect to other machines makes it funner to enjoy with others. I could always use another one for my nephew.

Now onto the dumbest purchase I ever made. It definitely is the 3-D camera I bought in the early 90's for $500. I thought it was the coolest technology at the time and spend almost all my savings on it. After months of expensive film developing cost and the lack of interst in the pictures I took, I realized that it was a waste of money. The pawn shop wouldn't take the camera so I was stuck. I chalk it up as the $500 experience.

So some errands ran during lunch today. I sent off both my tax filings and hoping looking forward to the 2 thousand plus anticipated refund. I'm gonna need that to pay for the gas I charged on the card today when the credit card bill comes in. At least the rate of increase is dropping off a little. On Feb 15 I pumped up at $2.85/gallon. On Feb 22, it was $3.15/gallon. Today it was $3.31. $4/gallon here we come by the summer. It's a commodity so I guess I am indifferent to the price.

They say weird things happen during full moons. I guess there's no exception when the full moon is interupted by a lunar eclipse. I found the $10 I thought I lost Wednesday night. I'm so happy because it was one of the new $10 bills. I found it going through the business cards of those who I met on the sanddune that night. They wanted me to share some pictures of the eclipse that I had taken. I guess it helps to follow through.

Here are some pictures from the Feb 20 2008 Lunar Eclipse:

The moon before totality with Saturn at 8 o'clock and Regulus (Leo Constellation) at 12 o'clock


The red moon during totality


The moon near the end of the eclipse

I must have cursed myself when I said I would pay $100 for clear skies to watch the lunar eclipse. I was happy to drive home from work to see an opening in the clouds. So I grabbed my camera, tripod, compass, spare batteries, and headed out. Through all the hussle of pulling things in and out of my pocket outside, I think I lost the $10 bill I had in my pocket. I don't know where it is. I hope who ever finds it makes good use of that Hamilton.

I really don't know what my limit would be, but I would pay at least $100 for some clear skies tonight. There will be a total lunar eclipse tonight, but the overcast skies and light drizzle is so far putting a damper on that. The moon will be sandwiched by Saturn and the Regulus, the bright star of Leo. NASA says that there will not be another lunar eclipse in the US for 3 years. The last we had one in August was in the middle of the night and I awoke for that one and captured some interesting pictures.

Rain, rain, go away!!!

I made $40 doing a survey last night. It was in regards to home DVD entertainment systems. Intriguing, but very pricey and looks complicated to put together.

It's been a while since I've done a survey with my local researching firm. I think it has to do with the girl who used to make the calls for potential responders getting a promotion. She used to call me all the time and 'lead' me to the correct answer to quality for the survey. Now I get some unfriendly robot that makes me want to avoid the survey. I probably shoulding be doing these anyways since my sister works in the media selling department for one of the major tv networks.

I bought the last 2 books for Forever stamps from the office administrator, since I found out the Post Office is rising rates on May 12. By buying today, I save 40 cents in 89 days. That is about a 10% annual return. Sweet.

I might have to take a trip to the Post Office when they print up more Forever stamps.

Since the beginning of 2007, I have not paid a direct penny to Hollywood. I know there's probably some money going there indirectly through advertising and such, and paying for cable. I have not paid for a movie ticket, movie rental, or DVD purchased since late 2006.

I can't remember how it all started, but I was getting fed up Hollywood and it's lack of creactivity. I'm guessing a lot of it has to do with the numerous remakes and movie adaptations of old tv shows over the last few years. I think it started with Disney's 'National Treasure.' After watching it, I realized that it was just an adult version of 'Goonies.' So Disney is recycling their plotlines.

If you watch an action/adventure movie, the movie is all graphics and horrible writing. If the movie is a comedy, all the good jokes were seen in the previews

I was fed up to the point where I was not giving Hollywood any more of my money. I stopped going to movies but others wanted to go and didn't want to go alone, so I said you can pay for me. So since then I have been treated 3 movies. I'm a cheap movie date anyways because I never grew up being accustomed to snacking while watching a movie.

I watch a alot of DVD's that I borrow from friends. With the speed that studios are putting out DVDs, you really only have to wait a few months to see a movie on DVD.

Well, today is the Lunar New Year. This time of year was already great when I was young because I got a lot of gifts of money from relatives. To me this was better than x-mas because it was always about currency--no gift cards, no clothes. Though I really don't understand the entire Lunar New Year, I try to pass down the gifts I have received in years before.

As I have aged, I had to start returning the favor and give to my young nieces, nephews, and cousins. I usually draw the cutoff if they have graduated from college or are married or have kids of their own.

We usually try to get crisp new bills from the bank. My mother has always been successful with this but my bank tends to hate me and usually doesn't carry new bills. Last year, I decided that I would be meager and save a couple of bucks and recycle the red envelopes, so I saved all I got last year. I'm am sure the idea of giving used money holder is a sign of bad luck. I hope the recipients enjoy the cash though.

I ran some errands today and visited the credit union. I opened a Roth IRA and locked in 4.41% for a year. It was interesting that they offered a 18-month variable rate CD at 4.50%. I inquired about it and the branch says they update the rate weekly. Doesn't seem like a good idea in these declining days. Made another additional payment on the car note.

Now it is time to get ready for the Superbowl.

A while back I uploaded this video of my sister's dog growling. I only uploaded the video because the yorkie blew a snot bubble. Some people say that it looks like the dog is smiling. Well an creditable world wide advertiser with an office in Australia saw the footage and wanted to buy the rights to the footage to possibly use it in a dog food commercial.

They sent me a general release contract. In the release it states that they will pay me "US$1,000.00 (excluding GST)." So I find out that GST in Australia is Goods and Services Tax, whatever that % may be. Am I correct that assume that they will withhold the necessary taxes on their side so I should expect less than US$1,000?

Later, am I required to file an Australia tax return and maybe pay more or get a refund later? Do we have tax treaties with the Commonwealth of Australia where they will report this earnings to the IRS, when then I would have to report it? I have no problems taking a gamble that they won't report and chance that I don't get audited for 2008.

I know some of us play the lottery every once in a while, but how many play the office superbowl pool. Of course, the boxes were filled out before it got to me. What is up with that? They should limit the number of boxes someone should buy so everyone has a chance before people buy more. I'll have to play in another pool.

Looking at the lines though I do like the Giants getting 12 points now, where they opened at 14. I also like the over at 54 total points. Would I take the Giants on the money line? Probably not--I've seen the Patriots come back a few times in the 4th quarter this year.

Though I am not a big fan of Eli Manning after what he and his father did during his draft, I find it hard to root the Patriots and their smug. I was really undecided in regards to who to root for until I found out that the Patriots have applied for trademark rights to "19-0" and "19-0 the Perfect Season". Go Giants

In reading about Koppur's 4 cents entry, I remembered an how I made money from returning a xmas gift I had bought.

I needed a calendar as a gift and purchased one for $14.00 at B&N. A week later, there were some extra calendars around the office, so I decided to take one of those and return the calendar that I had purchased. I returned it at a different store but got back $14.08. I told the cashier that the original receipt states $14.00, but her registered calculated that I was to be refunded $14.08. I just took it and pondered on the drive home. A few days later I realized that why I go more on the return. I had made the purchase in OC County which has a lower sales tax than LA County which was where I returned it. All I know know that B&N now has a loss on return due to sales tax for $0.08 while I pocketed the change.

There was an interesting article in the Daily Breeze about a blogger that comments on the housing market in one of the riches zip codes in America. The article basically points out that the local real estate agents are not happy that this person points out some shady selling tactics used by the agents. The Manhattan Beach Confidential is an anonymous blog but he makes some good points. Some of the listings that he discuss are range from the 'wow' to the 'WTF'? These homes are way out of my price range anyways.

If the MLB of today was like the MLB of the Black Sox days, Brian McNamee would have never had a chance to point any fingers.

Seems the agents are angry and want to start a witchhunt and find out who this person is. Remember the good old days when you had ill words against money, you existance on earth was treatened. This guy is playing with the agents' earning potential and they are not happy. 80 years ago, this guy would be dead, but now people just use the boycott and protest methods.

It's been a long time since I've been on the felt and played some poker. The night started with 28 players in the no rebuy tournament. Didn't do so well and played horribly with the scrub hands I was dealt. After 2 hours, I was out with 15 players remaining. I had some tough beats so I know the last 2 hands were tilt. I was down $35 for the entry fee already. The cash game started slow but as we changed the games up. I started to win some big pots. Took home $50 so a profitable night of $15.

So the company's PR department gave everyone with DD an option to retrieve their paystubs online. I've opted not to take advantage of this, because I would still print it out and save a hard copy of it. I am so old-school.

The idea of moving more of my documentation towards a paperless system has been on my mind for years with me constantly debating it. Most of the debate is because I keep all records and bills for at least 7 years and sometimes longer. I've sued collection agents over false claims before, and it was more convenient to have documents readily at hand rather to have to order them from financial institutions. Last year, when the IRS decided to return some medieval phone tax, I received 3 folds of what the average taxpayer received because I had my past phone bills and was able to itemized the overpayment and receive more than the standard rebate.

So many financial services are migrating towards a paperless system, but I still prefer to receive my cancelled checks back. To take advantage of a better WAMU rate, I signed up for a online savings account and closed my old savings account, so now instead of getting combined statements, I receive one for my checking account and have to retrieve my savings account online. Today I moved some funds from my ING account (I thought I would always be transferring funds to ING for better rates), but as I always do, I make a pdf file of the transfer request.

To move to a paperless system would mean I would have to find a backup harddrive and find an effecient way to scan hard paper documents I still receive. I still give this system some thought, but until I can make it more convenient, it is just a thought. A tree killer I will continue to be.

Anyone have any recommendations on going paperless?

On a side note, maybe the penthouse is not always the best because from looking at streaming video of the Monte Carlo Casino fire, it looks like the blaze started at the top.

All politics aside it looks like our tax rebates are not going to be as big as we hoped they would be.

Seems like the concession between both party have agreed to give Americans back $600 per wage earner plus an additional $300 per kid up (I don't know if there is a limit as there was in the original Bush proposal). So $600 for a single taxpayer and up to $1200 for those filing jointly.

Seems that the main concession was to give smaller rebates to more taxpayers especially including those who did not earn enough to pay taxes in 2007. Minimum earning is $3000 to get a rebate check. I wonder if anyone can spin the $200 decrease into a charitable contribution to the poor?

I wonder when we should be expecting a check in a brown envelope? I hope soon enough to lock a decent rate on a CD before rates bottom out.

I was shopping around for a financial institution to open a Roth IRA now that the savings are starting to build. I've decided I wanted to open the IRA at a bank rather than a brokerage firm because I still prefer to visit the banks once in a while because there is something about the inside of a branch that makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

I was getting fed up with banking at WAMU because their locations are not as convenient for me for branch visits as well as ATMs. I've been with WAMU since they came to California by buying out Home Savings of America (Savings of America outside of CA and Ahmanson's elsewhere. Before that, I've been with Home Savings of America since my employment since college.

Last year, I started shopping around for a new bank and noticed that Citibank was expanding their presents in my neighborhood. They were offering a great rate on a savings account so I moved some money over there with an online checking accounting and e-savings account. It was nice to put some money into Citibank and have more convenient ATM's because 7-Eleven ATM's are Citibanks. I just funded a 6-month CD at Citibank just because it was a good rate, but after that 6 months, I will need to make a decision.

A couple of years ago, I was given a membership to a local credit union when I purchased and financed a used car. I was given $5 to open a shared account at the CU as well as a free annual membership to the Surf Riders' Association. Then I was offered $50 to open a checking account at the CU, which I did. I didn't use the services of the credit union much. I just had a portion of my direct deposit there so I can make transfers to my car payment.

So as I shopped around for a bank to open a Roth IRA, I noticed that WAMU charges an annual trustee fee for their IRAs. I noticed that Citibank didn't, and out of curiousity I checked Bank of America online and they didn't charge a trustee fee either. From when I was a new accounts rep, trustee fees for IRA were a norm and there wasn't a way around it. I guess competitive need for customer changes things.

I'm just not going to look into ING anymore because I know they are playing games with Fed to see who can drop their rates faster.

I browsed around my CU's website and noticed that they don't charge a trustee fee either for a Roth IRA, but that shouldn't be a real surprise because CU's hardly charge for anything. I decided to see what my CD options were and the rates are a whole percentage points better. Besides that the CU tends to be more crowded than Citibank and WAMU on Saturdays, but I am seriously wondering why I am not considering banking at the CU. I know some say that they are not FDIC insured but they have a different insurance protection.

I know within the next year, I plan to have the car loan paid off, so I will have to decide to either keep the Citibank or the CU relationship.

What say you fellow savers? Your preference of credit unions or banks?

I look around my place I just hate that I have so much stuff I can get rid or give away. What bugs me is the excess of something I don't really need much of. I have a 6 quart crock pot, which is really big and it annoys me to leave it out on the limited counter space so I have to put it away when not in use. Why the gift had been just a 2-3 qt slower cooker. BTW, does anyone know if I throw dried penne, ground beef, and spaghetti sauce in the crockpot for a few hours, if a nice pasta dish will come out or will it be crap? Then there is the family size George Foreman Grill that was also a gift. Why couldn't it had been the standard size one because when I use it, I only use half of it. Maybe I can do some bartering on CL for smaller ones. I would like an ice-cream maker since neither Ben & Jerry's or Dreyers will make my recommended Muddy Road (Chocolate ice-cream with marshmellows and browning chunks).

I will have to get the old Pentium PC up and running so I can give it away.

Then I will have to tackle the shredding to get the paperwork down to the last 7 years.

So yesterday I found myself rummaging through the company recycling bin looking for caps from coke products for mycokereward points. The company just recently switch vendors for the vending machines who use bottles rather than cans. I just find the caps, write the codes down and return the bottle. I have to be careful because I don't want someone thinking I am stealing from the company recycling bin that is cashed in for employee functions. I could send out a mass email asking people for their coke caps, but I know once I do that, that one person in the office that has to be better at something than everyone else will have to start collecting and that person is just a lot better at begging than me.

A few weeks ago I started to peek into trash cans in my neighborhood looking for bottles or box tab from a case of coke products. I should wear my yardwork clothes when I do this so I look like any of the others that rummage for recyclables on trash day. I am sure there is something illegal about this because they are taking away from the city recycling program. I know some jurisdictions make dumpster diving illegal because it can lead to identity them. I offen notice businesses with stacks of cases of soda that they stock up for their customers. I know they don't do anything with those tabs, but I have yet to check their bins in the back. I have learned a lot from my father, but he never did teach me the efficient and safe methods of trash digging from his homeless days. I may have to start saving up for fines and/or bail.

I don't know why I am so obsessed with collecting these mycokereward points. I hardly drink soda at all. I don't see anything too interesting to redeem them for but they are always changing the redemption products. I think part of it was how I was amazed of stories people told me of all the fun stuff they got with their Marboro collection program. Also because none of my friends or family do it so I get all their stuff, but being in health conscience CA, it's all about ice-tea and bottled water. Anyone want to send me their codes?

Ideas about living a life of frugality are abundant and out there in cyberspace. I was browsing through CL to find someone willing to trade some unwanted xmas gift cards. I came upon the frugal living forum and found most of the ideas to be extreme but also very entertaining in uniqueness.

There were some suggestions about hanging clothes out to dry rather using a dryer. There was a discussion on how to collect rain water, but more importantly how to keep rain water clean. There seem to be a a lot of bragging about how short of shower one person can take to save on water. This is where things got a little extreme. One poster said he take his towels and soap to public restrooms in fast food restaurants and wash down with a wet cloth.

One wife talked how she would use the air from deflating an exercise ball to blow dry her hair. Someone asked what happens when the ball is flat? She remarked that she has her husband blow up the exercise ball up manually. I don't know if that meant with a pump or his mouth.

There was a topic on tearing up old tshirts as reuseable tampons. Ewwww...then it moved onto reuseable toilet wipes--I stopped reading.

So in the office pool for the college bowl games. This is the 6th year and I won the first year, but haven't had a good showing since. So this year I have a chance for 1st again. If Ohio State can with the 4.5 pts they are getting, then all I need is for the total score to be 56 or lower for me to win 1st. A higher score would still put me in the money for 2nd. Given the fact that Ohio State is 0-8 against SEC schools in bowl games, I would say things are slim, but just don't lose by more than 4 pts, then I will be happy. I guess if things don't go my way, then I'll start studying for college basketball season.

So I finally was able to reach the minimum reward level to cash out some miles in one of my credit cards. Made the call and got the check. I was unhappy that Capital One reduce that reward but I knew about that last year. Now I put that card away and don't use it anymore and use the free MyPoints cc exclusely. I really hate having to close this account because I have had it for over 8 years, but the $19 annual fee doesn't outway the reward anymore. I know I am going to take a hit on my credit score, when I lose the long standing credit relationship as well as increase in credit usage when lose the credit line for the account. When I make a major purchase and get my monthly credit charges over $1000, I notice that my credit score drops about 20 points. In anticipation of the January annual fee charge, I called CapOne to have the account close and they said they will send me a letter to waive the charge if I keep it open. I decided to keep it open and deal with it until next year.

Another anticipated increase in annual fee is my overdraft line of credit which I never use. Before it was only $10 a year, but I received a notice that it was going to be increased up to $36. Wow, another annual fee for an unused credit. It is nice to have the overdraft there in case of extreme emergencies, it hasn't happened. If I close this account and eventually close the CapOne cc, then I will lose 70% of my total credit lines. Hate to see what my credit score is going to be after that.

Maybe time to start looking at other available credit options. Great more applications, more accounts, more paperwork, and more account management which I am a super micromanager in such regards.