Total credit to Trish for this one. Though it's probably too late for others to put reimbursement requests in against last year's expenses, this is still a good reminder for anyone with an active reimbursement account for THIS year to put any pending claims in now. Don't wait until they are forgotten.
Every year our companies ask if we want to set money aside for the purpose of paying medical expenses with pretax dollars. I'm not very good at keeping track... just never seems to come to the top of the important stuff list.
Last year I did not contribute any money from MY check to a medical reimbursement account, but my employer seeded my reimbursement account with $250 for choosing a particular medical coverage for myself. I did file one claim early on when it was fresh in my mind, but I hadn't thought about that account in several months. And I wouldn't have thought about it to this day, except that Trish mentioned as we were sitting on the couch a couple of weeks ago that her deadline for filing pretax reimbursements was coming up at the end of March. She asked if I had any dollars in an account and any expenses to claim against it. I didn't think so, but the next day I took a look...
Sure enough, there was $169.89 of the original $250 still sitting there. Trish found a receipt for a new pair of glasses that I purchased last year. Without Trish's prompting I would have ignored the account altogether. I think it's a subconscious thing - I'm not a fan of the hassle in paperwork and justification that have sometimes been required in the past. However, this time it was relatively easy to make a quick copy of the receipt, print the reimbursement form located online, and fax the two together on March 30, the day before the deadline for claims. Just a few days later, I had an additional $170 in the bank.
Mark your calendars... In researching this a little bit, most medical reimbursement programs have a grace period for expenses that allow a couple of months of leeway for spending your pretax dollars. And most have a hard deadline for putting the paperwork in before the funds are forfeited... March 31 in the case of both of our companies, and it seems that's a fairly common date. Next year we'll be reviewing our elections and expenses from this year in January to make sure we spend and claim in plenty of time.
Savings from beating the pretax reimbursement deadline: $169.89
Total savings to date: $2,101.22
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Week # 13: Netflix
Probably should have thought of this one sooner. A couple of years ago, I increased our Netflix account to have up to 4 DVDs in home at one time, one for each of the residents in the house. I didn't realize how expensive that has become until looking through all of my credit card payments.
Just by reducing the number to 3 DVDs the difference is $9 per month. To be consistent with other entries for permanent reductions, I'm calculating savings for 12 months so that my end total reflects results for one year's time.
$9 x 12 months = $108.
Total savings to date: $1,931.33
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Week # 12: Take YOU Out To The Ball Game....?
While I'm on the sports ticket theme, I may as well wrap up that general topic, and this is the perfect time of year to deal with Angels tickets. We have been season seat-holders since 2002, the year of the first and only World Series championship in Anaheim.
I thought about giving them up altogether this year, but at $10 per ticket... unchanged in several years... they are still a good price, and the best seats in the stadium for the money.
Our four seats are upstairs, but literally right behind home plate, so we have a great panorama of the stadium and the surrounding hills. It's tough to give up the long summer nights at the ballpark, and even Trish puts up with games because they are great meeting points to touch base with family and friends, and there is plenty of entertainment IN the stands to watch if the game happens to be slow. (Trish would argue there are few moments that aren't slow... it's all a matter of perspective.)
Each year my aunt and uncle purchase two tickets to 20 games from our stash, so I'll take those out of the equation. From those remaining, last year we sold $442.50 in tickets online at StubHub, the "official" sales location for MLB. So my target for this season is to sell at least $543 in tickets to realize $100 in savings above last year. This could be tough, because overall, interest in Angels tickets has waned a little bit. We may have to put up the most popular tickets (vs. Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, and bobblehead nights) to get there, as opposed to keeping them for ourselves. In the grand scheme of life, that's a relatively minor sacrifice, of course.
I could also consider donating certain tickets that are not likely to sell to charitable causes. If you know of a 501(c)3 that is looking for silent auction prizes and such, let me know and I'll certainly consider a donation (and then count the value of the tax write off toward the savings).
As with other ongoing trackable items, I will post monthly updates. If you are interested in purchasing Angels tickets for any games this season, leave a comment and I'll be in touch! :-)
Angel tickets sold so far: $0
Savings over last year: $0
Total savings to date: $1,823.33
I thought about giving them up altogether this year, but at $10 per ticket... unchanged in several years... they are still a good price, and the best seats in the stadium for the money.
Our four seats are upstairs, but literally right behind home plate, so we have a great panorama of the stadium and the surrounding hills. It's tough to give up the long summer nights at the ballpark, and even Trish puts up with games because they are great meeting points to touch base with family and friends, and there is plenty of entertainment IN the stands to watch if the game happens to be slow. (Trish would argue there are few moments that aren't slow... it's all a matter of perspective.)
Each year my aunt and uncle purchase two tickets to 20 games from our stash, so I'll take those out of the equation. From those remaining, last year we sold $442.50 in tickets online at StubHub, the "official" sales location for MLB. So my target for this season is to sell at least $543 in tickets to realize $100 in savings above last year. This could be tough, because overall, interest in Angels tickets has waned a little bit. We may have to put up the most popular tickets (vs. Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, and bobblehead nights) to get there, as opposed to keeping them for ourselves. In the grand scheme of life, that's a relatively minor sacrifice, of course.
I could also consider donating certain tickets that are not likely to sell to charitable causes. If you know of a 501(c)3 that is looking for silent auction prizes and such, let me know and I'll certainly consider a donation (and then count the value of the tax write off toward the savings).
As with other ongoing trackable items, I will post monthly updates. If you are interested in purchasing Angels tickets for any games this season, leave a comment and I'll be in touch! :-)
Angel tickets sold so far: $0
Savings over last year: $0
Total savings to date: $1,823.33
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Week # 11: Ducks Bucks
If you are reading this far, hopefully you enjoy the blog. Please consider adding yourself to the "follower" list, and share a link to the blog on your facebook page. The motivation level will be much higher to get through all 52 weeks if there are more than a handful of interested observers.
This week I'm documenting savings on sports tickets. True... it would be cheaper not to go to them at all, but when you're fans, that's not really an option. But we can do something about the cost.
The Anaheim Ducks are fighting to get into the NHL playoffs again, and we usually go to a handful of games each year. We haven't been to any games yet this year and the kids have been reminding me that the season is growing late, so we had planned to visit the Honda Center box office anyway.
At work, vendors are frequently on campus to show off various products and services. As I was walking back to my office a couple of weeks ago, I happened by a table where a bunch of promotional deals were laid out. I was just going to quickly browse past it, but one caught my eye... an offer from the Ducks. For $40, you could buy a card that had several ticket deals attached... two free tickets (up to $65 value), and four 2 for 1 deals (same max value). The potential savings: $390 per card for a $40 investment.
After reading through all the fine print and finding no catches, I bought two cards, figuring that we would go to a couple of games. The first free ticket would pay for the card all by itself, knowing that Ducks tickets don't come any cheaper than $40 as a rule.
After consulting with the family, we settled on two game dates: one for six and one for eight tickets, to include some extended family and friends. Trish and I went to the box office last week. We upgraded a little bit to seats in the lower level and paid the difference (between the $65 value of the voucher and the $81 cost of tickets). Between the freebies and two for one deals, we saved $65 on 9 of the 14 tickets purchased, or a total of $585. Subtracting the $80 I paid for the two discount cards, the net savings for the transaction was $505. My mother in law reimbursed us for two tickets so I'll subtract one $65 discount and claim credit for $440 in savings to MY wallet.
Overall, I'm sure we've spent less on the Ducks this year than most in the past, but I'll just highlight the savings from this transaction. I just wish I could also recall the name of the company to share it with you. From their display, it appeared they had available savings on just about any major entertainment option in Southern California.
Savings in hockey tickets: $440
Total savings to date: $1,823.33
This week I'm documenting savings on sports tickets. True... it would be cheaper not to go to them at all, but when you're fans, that's not really an option. But we can do something about the cost.
The Anaheim Ducks are fighting to get into the NHL playoffs again, and we usually go to a handful of games each year. We haven't been to any games yet this year and the kids have been reminding me that the season is growing late, so we had planned to visit the Honda Center box office anyway.
At work, vendors are frequently on campus to show off various products and services. As I was walking back to my office a couple of weeks ago, I happened by a table where a bunch of promotional deals were laid out. I was just going to quickly browse past it, but one caught my eye... an offer from the Ducks. For $40, you could buy a card that had several ticket deals attached... two free tickets (up to $65 value), and four 2 for 1 deals (same max value). The potential savings: $390 per card for a $40 investment.
After reading through all the fine print and finding no catches, I bought two cards, figuring that we would go to a couple of games. The first free ticket would pay for the card all by itself, knowing that Ducks tickets don't come any cheaper than $40 as a rule.
After consulting with the family, we settled on two game dates: one for six and one for eight tickets, to include some extended family and friends. Trish and I went to the box office last week. We upgraded a little bit to seats in the lower level and paid the difference (between the $65 value of the voucher and the $81 cost of tickets). Between the freebies and two for one deals, we saved $65 on 9 of the 14 tickets purchased, or a total of $585. Subtracting the $80 I paid for the two discount cards, the net savings for the transaction was $505. My mother in law reimbursed us for two tickets so I'll subtract one $65 discount and claim credit for $440 in savings to MY wallet.
Overall, I'm sure we've spent less on the Ducks this year than most in the past, but I'll just highlight the savings from this transaction. I just wish I could also recall the name of the company to share it with you. From their display, it appeared they had available savings on just about any major entertainment option in Southern California.
Savings in hockey tickets: $440
Total savings to date: $1,823.33
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Monthly Update - February Wrap
Transportation: Posted in March, so no update. ($2.58 for the year to date.)
Bottles and cans: Nothing new since post. (Still $1 for the year... working on it.)
Coupons: Nothing new since post. (Sitting on $24.78 for the year.)
Lunch Adjustments: $16.57 in February, since the last update. (Lunch savings, year to date: $44.17... getting there!)
Angels Tickets: Value of new tickets sold: $0. Total value for year: $0. Savings above the $442.50 sold last year: $0.
New savings: $16.57, bringing the overall cumulative total savings to $1,383.33.
Bottles and cans: Nothing new since post. (Still $1 for the year... working on it.)
Coupons: Nothing new since post. (Sitting on $24.78 for the year.)
Lunch Adjustments: $16.57 in February, since the last update. (Lunch savings, year to date: $44.17... getting there!)
Angels Tickets: Value of new tickets sold: $0. Total value for year: $0. Savings above the $442.50 sold last year: $0.
New savings: $16.57, bringing the overall cumulative total savings to $1,383.33.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Week # 10: Transportation
Part of my role is to convince employees at my company to avoid driving during their commute by carpooling, vanpooling, taking a bus or train, cycling, or walking. I have not followed my own advice as much as I should, despite the fact that my employer offers some excellent incentives. This week I'm figuring out my cost of driving and pledging to leave my car in the driveway occasionally.
First, I'm going to separate the cost of DRIVING from the cost of OWNING. If I leave my car in the driveway for a day, I am obviously saving on gas and a little bit of wear and tear. However, I am NOT saving money on things like car payments and insurance. Those expenses are going to be there every day until I eventually sell the car, whether it sits in the driveway or takes me to work. For today, let's just look at the gas, since it's the easiest thing to quantify, and a hot topic in the media again. (For a detailed breakdown of all costs of owning a vehicle, AAA puts out a very good annual Cost of Driving analysis, although the gas price they used is now a little outdated at $2-something).
My main commute (to the primary job) is 14 miles one way, so I put 28 miles on my car in a typical day with no side trips. Most cars would burn at least a gallon each day. I drive a Prius, so my challenge will be tougher. It's an older one so I average 42 miles per gallon. Doing some quick math, I use about 2/3 of a gallon each day, so I'll use a constant of 0.67 gallons saved for each day I can leave my car in the driveway.
The price of a gallon of gas has been fluctuating. These days a price change can happen while you're putting gas in the car, if a recent news report is to be believed. I want to use actual numbers, so I will hang onto the receipt from my last gas purchase and use the price of the gas that is currently in my tank to calculate savings. The last price I paid was $3.85 (yikes!) so if I can eliminate one commute, my savings are: 0.67 gallons x $3.85/gallon = $2.58. There are a couple other commutes I occasionally make which are much longer. Using similar math, I could save $8.98 or $7.52 per day, depending on my destination for the day.
Okay, then... what are my alternative commute options?
TRAIN: I love riding the train when opportunities present. Metrolink trains are smooth, clean, go where I need to go, and run on time more than 95%. Unfortunately, they are a little bit pricey for this challenge. A ten trip pass is $59.50. Taking my employer's 50% subsidy into account, my cost is $29.75. I could choose to deduct that amount from my pay as pretax dollars. Many employers do offer participation in pretax transit programs - similar to medical reimbursement programs - because employers also save on payroll taxes for the amounts employees choose to set aside. So I might save another 30% on the $29.75, bringing my estimated cost to $20.83. Dividing this cost by 5 days (a ten trip ticket is really five round trips) my daily train cost would be approximately $4.16. That's more than my daily cost of gas. I am actually surprised by this... for me to save money by riding the train, gas prices would have to rise to at least $6.21 per gallon, and that would just be a penny better than break-even. I would like to think that's beyond the realm of possibility, at least for a few years. So for my primary commute, the train doesn't help me with this challenge.
When I travel to one of the alternative locations, my employer will expense mileage. I don't expense my driving because then I'm not practicing what I preach, but I would expense train tickets. My employer likes that because the train is far less expensive than the per mile rate they would pay me for that distance (if I bothered to file the paperwork), so it's a win for both. I can save about $8.98 by taking the train on the days I'm making the secondary commute, so the train will work occasionally.
WALK: Too far. If I left now, I might make it to work on Thursday.
VANPOOL: The fares at my company are subsidized and VPSI provides great vehicles and maintenance services. Unfortunately, vanpools are on a fairly set schedule. My employer does offer a certain number of taxi rides at their expense if I get stuck having to stay late after riding a vanpool. That would help, but I'm a little too close to work for a vanpool fare to be really efficient for me.
BUS: My employer is in Orange County. The local bus provider is OCTA. They have gotten together on something called an EPass (Employer Pass). Employers can choose to provide a free annual pass to employees. OCTA bills the employer only for rides actually taken, at a reduced rate from the regular daily fare, and capped at a monthly rate that is a discount from the regular monthly pass. It's free, so I have an annual bus pass in my wallet. Have I used it? A couple of times in a pinch. It does take a while to get to work... the shortest commute time listed on OCTA's website is about 75 minutes compared to my 20-30 minute drive. But the price is right, and I can at least be productive using my iPad during the commute, so I'm not going to count it as much of a time loss. For my primary commute, this is a good option to save the $2.58 per day.
BIKE: Hmm. I probably should give this a try this summer. That will require some advance planning... changes of clothes in the office when I get there, shower supplies (there are showers available at work but they're generally BYOS (sundries)), and I'll need to review a safe route. 14 miles is not a small ride and will still take well over an hour to complete. I'll have to work up to that. I'll start by putting some air back in the tires and getting my bike tuned up. By the way, Bike to Work Week is May 16-20.
On Friday, I took the bus to work to kick off my effort. I found that there's also a lot of additional walking that takes place getting to and from stops, which is a fringe benefit of this challenge. I'm carrying an iPod Nano with a pedometer and passed 10,000 steps in one day for the first time. It would be great if I lost a couple of pounds along the way, and with the car in the driveway, even though I drive a Prius, I still saved about 15 pounds of CO2 from the atmosphere just by leaving it in the driveway one day. As with other cumulative efforts, I'll update transportation savings as the year goes along.
Commute savings so far: $2.58.
Total savings to date: $1,366.76.
Next week: Ducks Bucks.
First, I'm going to separate the cost of DRIVING from the cost of OWNING. If I leave my car in the driveway for a day, I am obviously saving on gas and a little bit of wear and tear. However, I am NOT saving money on things like car payments and insurance. Those expenses are going to be there every day until I eventually sell the car, whether it sits in the driveway or takes me to work. For today, let's just look at the gas, since it's the easiest thing to quantify, and a hot topic in the media again. (For a detailed breakdown of all costs of owning a vehicle, AAA puts out a very good annual Cost of Driving analysis, although the gas price they used is now a little outdated at $2-something).
My main commute (to the primary job) is 14 miles one way, so I put 28 miles on my car in a typical day with no side trips. Most cars would burn at least a gallon each day. I drive a Prius, so my challenge will be tougher. It's an older one so I average 42 miles per gallon. Doing some quick math, I use about 2/3 of a gallon each day, so I'll use a constant of 0.67 gallons saved for each day I can leave my car in the driveway.
The price of a gallon of gas has been fluctuating. These days a price change can happen while you're putting gas in the car, if a recent news report is to be believed. I want to use actual numbers, so I will hang onto the receipt from my last gas purchase and use the price of the gas that is currently in my tank to calculate savings. The last price I paid was $3.85 (yikes!) so if I can eliminate one commute, my savings are: 0.67 gallons x $3.85/gallon = $2.58. There are a couple other commutes I occasionally make which are much longer. Using similar math, I could save $8.98 or $7.52 per day, depending on my destination for the day.
Okay, then... what are my alternative commute options?
TRAIN: I love riding the train when opportunities present. Metrolink trains are smooth, clean, go where I need to go, and run on time more than 95%. Unfortunately, they are a little bit pricey for this challenge. A ten trip pass is $59.50. Taking my employer's 50% subsidy into account, my cost is $29.75. I could choose to deduct that amount from my pay as pretax dollars. Many employers do offer participation in pretax transit programs - similar to medical reimbursement programs - because employers also save on payroll taxes for the amounts employees choose to set aside. So I might save another 30% on the $29.75, bringing my estimated cost to $20.83. Dividing this cost by 5 days (a ten trip ticket is really five round trips) my daily train cost would be approximately $4.16. That's more than my daily cost of gas. I am actually surprised by this... for me to save money by riding the train, gas prices would have to rise to at least $6.21 per gallon, and that would just be a penny better than break-even. I would like to think that's beyond the realm of possibility, at least for a few years. So for my primary commute, the train doesn't help me with this challenge.
When I travel to one of the alternative locations, my employer will expense mileage. I don't expense my driving because then I'm not practicing what I preach, but I would expense train tickets. My employer likes that because the train is far less expensive than the per mile rate they would pay me for that distance (if I bothered to file the paperwork), so it's a win for both. I can save about $8.98 by taking the train on the days I'm making the secondary commute, so the train will work occasionally.
WALK: Too far. If I left now, I might make it to work on Thursday.
VANPOOL: The fares at my company are subsidized and VPSI provides great vehicles and maintenance services. Unfortunately, vanpools are on a fairly set schedule. My employer does offer a certain number of taxi rides at their expense if I get stuck having to stay late after riding a vanpool. That would help, but I'm a little too close to work for a vanpool fare to be really efficient for me.
BUS: My employer is in Orange County. The local bus provider is OCTA. They have gotten together on something called an EPass (Employer Pass). Employers can choose to provide a free annual pass to employees. OCTA bills the employer only for rides actually taken, at a reduced rate from the regular daily fare, and capped at a monthly rate that is a discount from the regular monthly pass. It's free, so I have an annual bus pass in my wallet. Have I used it? A couple of times in a pinch. It does take a while to get to work... the shortest commute time listed on OCTA's website is about 75 minutes compared to my 20-30 minute drive. But the price is right, and I can at least be productive using my iPad during the commute, so I'm not going to count it as much of a time loss. For my primary commute, this is a good option to save the $2.58 per day.
BIKE: Hmm. I probably should give this a try this summer. That will require some advance planning... changes of clothes in the office when I get there, shower supplies (there are showers available at work but they're generally BYOS (sundries)), and I'll need to review a safe route. 14 miles is not a small ride and will still take well over an hour to complete. I'll have to work up to that. I'll start by putting some air back in the tires and getting my bike tuned up. By the way, Bike to Work Week is May 16-20.
On Friday, I took the bus to work to kick off my effort. I found that there's also a lot of additional walking that takes place getting to and from stops, which is a fringe benefit of this challenge. I'm carrying an iPod Nano with a pedometer and passed 10,000 steps in one day for the first time. It would be great if I lost a couple of pounds along the way, and with the car in the driveway, even though I drive a Prius, I still saved about 15 pounds of CO2 from the atmosphere just by leaving it in the driveway one day. As with other cumulative efforts, I'll update transportation savings as the year goes along.
Commute savings so far: $2.58.
Total savings to date: $1,366.76.
Next week: Ducks Bucks.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Week # 9: Coupons!
So apparently, there are these pieces of paper with bar codes that occasionally come in the mail and can be found online, which offer discounts on any number of items offered for sale in local stores of all kinds. I'm told these redeemable vouchers are called "coupons".
Trish has occasionally - and very casually - clipped a few coupons in past years. Most of those sit around in the miscellaneous junk drawer and eventually get thrown out a couple of years after they expire. So we've probably saved a few dollars per year via coupons before, but I'm going to count the dollars from this new effort to organize and track the savings we realize.
From the looks of things, it shouldn't be too hard to find coupons that cover things we actually do buy and use. A quick Google search for coupons turned up any number of online coupon sources. One notable site was CouponMom.com, which includes some printable online coupons as well as a complete list of the coupons available in each Sunday newspaper in our region. Those newspaper coupons are not printable online as far as I can tell, but it's nice to be able to put check marks next to the coupons you would probably use and then see them isolated on a handy list. From there, you can decide if purchasing the Sunday paper is worth it for the savings you would get from those offerings.
You will recall from our archived notes that we gave up the newspaper in week one of this year. If the coupons are particularly lucrative on a particular Sunday, we might grab an occasional newspaper from the store. To maintain the integrity of our running total of savings, I will subtract the cost of the paper from the coupon savings if that's the route we go.
I needed to replenish some sundries and found a few matching and printable coupons online. My first visit to the store with calculated coupon clippings netted $12.49 in savings. I also happened across a two for one offer on vitamin D in the store, something our doctor has suggested we take daily, so I'm counting the free bottle as kind of an instant coupon. That brings the total to $24.78 in savings, all on stuff we will definitely consume: shaving cream, deodorant, aspirin, peanut butter, tostitos (okay... this one probably would not have ended up in my basket without the coupon, but I do enjoy the occasional chips and salsa treat), vitamins, and orange juice.
This is one of those trackable items that I will update on a monthly basis. We should be able to reach $100 in coupon savings by the end of the calendar year.
Next up: alternatives to driving. Have a great week!
Coupon savings so far: $24.78 in just one visit. I guess it pays to look around a little bit for deals.
Total saved this year: $1,364.18
Trish has occasionally - and very casually - clipped a few coupons in past years. Most of those sit around in the miscellaneous junk drawer and eventually get thrown out a couple of years after they expire. So we've probably saved a few dollars per year via coupons before, but I'm going to count the dollars from this new effort to organize and track the savings we realize.
From the looks of things, it shouldn't be too hard to find coupons that cover things we actually do buy and use. A quick Google search for coupons turned up any number of online coupon sources. One notable site was CouponMom.com, which includes some printable online coupons as well as a complete list of the coupons available in each Sunday newspaper in our region. Those newspaper coupons are not printable online as far as I can tell, but it's nice to be able to put check marks next to the coupons you would probably use and then see them isolated on a handy list. From there, you can decide if purchasing the Sunday paper is worth it for the savings you would get from those offerings.
You will recall from our archived notes that we gave up the newspaper in week one of this year. If the coupons are particularly lucrative on a particular Sunday, we might grab an occasional newspaper from the store. To maintain the integrity of our running total of savings, I will subtract the cost of the paper from the coupon savings if that's the route we go.
I needed to replenish some sundries and found a few matching and printable coupons online. My first visit to the store with calculated coupon clippings netted $12.49 in savings. I also happened across a two for one offer on vitamin D in the store, something our doctor has suggested we take daily, so I'm counting the free bottle as kind of an instant coupon. That brings the total to $24.78 in savings, all on stuff we will definitely consume: shaving cream, deodorant, aspirin, peanut butter, tostitos (okay... this one probably would not have ended up in my basket without the coupon, but I do enjoy the occasional chips and salsa treat), vitamins, and orange juice.
This is one of those trackable items that I will update on a monthly basis. We should be able to reach $100 in coupon savings by the end of the calendar year.
Next up: alternatives to driving. Have a great week!
Coupon savings so far: $24.78 in just one visit. I guess it pays to look around a little bit for deals.
Total saved this year: $1,364.18
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Week # 8: Bottles and Cans and Dogs
Our kids are teenagers - one in college and the other a high school senior, both living at home - so they know about this little experiment. My daughter saw me working on the blog last weekend and commented, "Oh, I didn't know you were actually still doing that." She hasn't noticed any change to her normal lifestyle, so she assumed I'd given up on the resolution, like many others before.
Now that I think about it, apart from coming up with a new idea each week and attending to the administrative details of this blog, nothing much has changed. Our quality of life is exactly the same. That is certainly an indication that we have subscribed to and spent money on things we could easily live without. After seven cuts of $100 or more, the one and only thing I truly have missed is the summary of games on TV in the Register sports section. Maybe we'll make it farther into the year than I thought before we have to get really creative.
Number eight is also not much of a sacrifice; just a little extra collection work.
Bottles and cans in California have a redemption value associated with them. We pay the grocery store a CRV (California Refund Value?) for each glass and aluminum container, usually a nickel.
When we finish with a bottle or can here at home, the container goes into recycling to be whisked away by Waste Management. I would be interested to know if they collect the bounty and add it to their bottom line. For a large company collecting millions of recyclables, that could be a significant boost to revenue. For a small household, it still offers an opportunity to save at least $100.
My employer actually has a program in place to collect recyclables. There are receptacles at every major employee entrance. Money collected from cashing in the bottles and cans helps to fund training and development of guide dogs for the blind. Occasionally, the trainers are colleagues who bring the puppies with them everywhere, including our office building. It gives the charity a very tangible feeling; we can see the results of the collected money in action.
The sign on the side of the container says they get a nickel for each bottle and can. Instead of tossing them in our recycle bin at home, I will bring our cans and bottles to work each time a batch of 20 (worth $1) is collected. Can we collect 2000 cans before the end of the year? I think so, but whether we do or not, I don't know why we wouldn't just keep doing this, so we'll get there eventually.
Even though this $100 is not staying in our pockets - and not adding to our savings directly - I'm counting it for credit toward the challenge because we're creating $100 in value for a charity we want to support, without having to write a check to do it. I was able to find 20 bottles and cans ready to be recycled this weekend, so it's $1 down, $99 to go! I'll update the tally at the end of each month, along with other strategies that require some tracking.
Bottle / Can value so far: $1
Total savings so far: $1,339.40
Now that I think about it, apart from coming up with a new idea each week and attending to the administrative details of this blog, nothing much has changed. Our quality of life is exactly the same. That is certainly an indication that we have subscribed to and spent money on things we could easily live without. After seven cuts of $100 or more, the one and only thing I truly have missed is the summary of games on TV in the Register sports section. Maybe we'll make it farther into the year than I thought before we have to get really creative.
Number eight is also not much of a sacrifice; just a little extra collection work.
Bottles and cans in California have a redemption value associated with them. We pay the grocery store a CRV (California Refund Value?) for each glass and aluminum container, usually a nickel.
When we finish with a bottle or can here at home, the container goes into recycling to be whisked away by Waste Management. I would be interested to know if they collect the bounty and add it to their bottom line. For a large company collecting millions of recyclables, that could be a significant boost to revenue. For a small household, it still offers an opportunity to save at least $100.
My employer actually has a program in place to collect recyclables. There are receptacles at every major employee entrance. Money collected from cashing in the bottles and cans helps to fund training and development of guide dogs for the blind. Occasionally, the trainers are colleagues who bring the puppies with them everywhere, including our office building. It gives the charity a very tangible feeling; we can see the results of the collected money in action.
The sign on the side of the container says they get a nickel for each bottle and can. Instead of tossing them in our recycle bin at home, I will bring our cans and bottles to work each time a batch of 20 (worth $1) is collected. Can we collect 2000 cans before the end of the year? I think so, but whether we do or not, I don't know why we wouldn't just keep doing this, so we'll get there eventually.
Even though this $100 is not staying in our pockets - and not adding to our savings directly - I'm counting it for credit toward the challenge because we're creating $100 in value for a charity we want to support, without having to write a check to do it. I was able to find 20 bottles and cans ready to be recycled this weekend, so it's $1 down, $99 to go! I'll update the tally at the end of each month, along with other strategies that require some tracking.
Bottle / Can value so far: $1
Total savings so far: $1,339.40
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Week # 7: Yet Another Wine Story
No, we are not alcoholics. We just happen to enjoy the nectar of the gods - in moderation, of course. And red wine is good for your heart, right?
This one is a little different from the wine clubs we've already cancelled.
There's a great little store up the street called Wine Styles. It's part of a chain you can check out at WineStyles.com if you're curious. We're members of their club.
For $38 per month, we get the "selections of the month" - two bottles of something that's usually very interesting, discounts on the store's wares, and invitations to special events. The cubby hole of a room in the back has excellent wine tasting ambience and occasional live music. It's become a bit of a habitual meeting place to keep in touch with some of our neighbors, which is the primary reason for our attraction to the store.
So we're not going to give that up altogether, but we can do without the club membership for a few months. Suspending the membership for three months hits the $100 mark.
$38 x 3 months = $114
Total savings so far: $1,338.40
This one is a little different from the wine clubs we've already cancelled.
There's a great little store up the street called Wine Styles. It's part of a chain you can check out at WineStyles.com if you're curious. We're members of their club.
For $38 per month, we get the "selections of the month" - two bottles of something that's usually very interesting, discounts on the store's wares, and invitations to special events. The cubby hole of a room in the back has excellent wine tasting ambience and occasional live music. It's become a bit of a habitual meeting place to keep in touch with some of our neighbors, which is the primary reason for our attraction to the store.
So we're not going to give that up altogether, but we can do without the club membership for a few months. Suspending the membership for three months hits the $100 mark.
$38 x 3 months = $114
Total savings so far: $1,338.40
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Week # 6: Land Mine... er, Line - The Battle to Cancel MCI
Okay... any guilt I had about reducing our contributions to the national economy is gone for good after the effort I had to expend to make this week's budget cut. I have no idea what "MCI" stands for, but after this week I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it's Make Customers Insane.
We've been in the current house for almost 11 years. When we moved in, for whatever reason, AT&T was our designated local service provider, and MCI provided long distance service for our land line. That's just how it was set up and we never bothered to change anything.
Now that we're taking a closer look at things, we don't need long distance service since we have cell phones with national range. We considered getting rid of the land line altogether, but Trish is required to have a back up contact phone for her days on call. We haven't figured out a way around that yet. At least we could cancel MCI's long distance service, so I set out to challenge their phone menu system on Friday afternoon.
First attempt: I dialed the number and warily stepped into the voice maze. This particular system felt like a video game, and I quickly defeated and advanced through several levels until I got to THIS challenge, asking what kind of change I wanted to make to our account: press 1 to add services, 2 to change services, or 3 to cancel service. I pressed "3". Wrong answer... first life lost. A cheery voice informed me that all representatives were very busy indeed, and my wait time was estimated at "18 minutes." I dug in my heels and tried to keep the elevator music from starting any permanent loops in my head.
Ten minutes into my hold, I tried to look at the time on my cell phone and inadvertently disconnected the call. Since I had a chance to start anew, I decided to try a new strategy, just as you have to try a different move the second time through a video game if you don't reach the end the first time.
This time, I told the nice virtual lady that I wanted to "add" service. When presented with a menu of services that they would be more than happy to set up for me, I feigned ignorance and refused to push a button, for fear that I might actually finish the call owing more than when I started. Sensing confusion, the helpful virtual lady placed me into a queue, presumably the one for those who had expressed an interest in spending MORE for additional unnecessary services. This time I was not given any estimate of the wait.
Guess what? Jennifer, a very helpful real person, was on the line in 45 seconds. She was obviously caught by surprise when I told her the reason for my call was to cancel. After some shuffling through papers to find the appropriate and unfamiliar script, Jennifer informed me that they could replace AT&T as our local provider for basic phone service for the low price of $6.11 monthly, and would that be okay? AT&T charges $27/month for that same service, so I said... "sure!"
"Great" said Jennifer, and she put me on hold to process the change request. Three minutes later, she returned to take care of the details. "Now", she said, "is your income less than $24,000 per year?"
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been paying $16 per month for years for basically nothing if that were the case, but I still should have seen that coming. Giving her some benefit of doubt, it's possible she just took a wrong turn on her flow chart before quoting me the impossibly low rate. I told her that we weren't going to qualify for any special programs based on low income. "Oh, okay... we'll just enroll you in the Neighborhood service at the regular price then." Before I could object, I was holding again.
When she returned, I had to turn the conversation back around to get the details from her before she completed the transaction. $25 per month plus per minute charges for long distance calls plus fees. The old bait and switch! That's basically our deal with AT&T. So I politely requested to just cancel the MCI bill... again. This brought on a fourth round of elevator music.
Upon her return, Jennifer, apparently out of sales pitches, informed me that she would be transferring me to the voicemail system which handles service cancellations. (Why, then, couldn't I have simply been directed there after punching "3" the first time around?) Finally... the last level... the chance to slay the dragon! After another round of silly menus requesting information I had already discussed thoroughly with Jennifer, I was finally given a confirmation number.
All in all, it took 40 minutes to make a simple cancellation. Makes me wonder how much MCI depends on revenue from accounts which users try to cancel, but are unable. At least I succeeded at jumping out of the understaffed or non-existent queue for cancellation calls, and we are no longer obligated for the monthly payments of $16 for land line services.
We'll probably examine the remaining land line charges later in the year. Any ideas about cheap services are welcome!
MCI savings for one year: $187.20.
Total savings so far: $1,224.40!
We've been in the current house for almost 11 years. When we moved in, for whatever reason, AT&T was our designated local service provider, and MCI provided long distance service for our land line. That's just how it was set up and we never bothered to change anything.
Now that we're taking a closer look at things, we don't need long distance service since we have cell phones with national range. We considered getting rid of the land line altogether, but Trish is required to have a back up contact phone for her days on call. We haven't figured out a way around that yet. At least we could cancel MCI's long distance service, so I set out to challenge their phone menu system on Friday afternoon.
First attempt: I dialed the number and warily stepped into the voice maze. This particular system felt like a video game, and I quickly defeated and advanced through several levels until I got to THIS challenge, asking what kind of change I wanted to make to our account: press 1 to add services, 2 to change services, or 3 to cancel service. I pressed "3". Wrong answer... first life lost. A cheery voice informed me that all representatives were very busy indeed, and my wait time was estimated at "18 minutes." I dug in my heels and tried to keep the elevator music from starting any permanent loops in my head.
Ten minutes into my hold, I tried to look at the time on my cell phone and inadvertently disconnected the call. Since I had a chance to start anew, I decided to try a new strategy, just as you have to try a different move the second time through a video game if you don't reach the end the first time.
This time, I told the nice virtual lady that I wanted to "add" service. When presented with a menu of services that they would be more than happy to set up for me, I feigned ignorance and refused to push a button, for fear that I might actually finish the call owing more than when I started. Sensing confusion, the helpful virtual lady placed me into a queue, presumably the one for those who had expressed an interest in spending MORE for additional unnecessary services. This time I was not given any estimate of the wait.
Guess what? Jennifer, a very helpful real person, was on the line in 45 seconds. She was obviously caught by surprise when I told her the reason for my call was to cancel. After some shuffling through papers to find the appropriate and unfamiliar script, Jennifer informed me that they could replace AT&T as our local provider for basic phone service for the low price of $6.11 monthly, and would that be okay? AT&T charges $27/month for that same service, so I said... "sure!"
"Great" said Jennifer, and she put me on hold to process the change request. Three minutes later, she returned to take care of the details. "Now", she said, "is your income less than $24,000 per year?"
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been paying $16 per month for years for basically nothing if that were the case, but I still should have seen that coming. Giving her some benefit of doubt, it's possible she just took a wrong turn on her flow chart before quoting me the impossibly low rate. I told her that we weren't going to qualify for any special programs based on low income. "Oh, okay... we'll just enroll you in the Neighborhood service at the regular price then." Before I could object, I was holding again.
When she returned, I had to turn the conversation back around to get the details from her before she completed the transaction. $25 per month plus per minute charges for long distance calls plus fees. The old bait and switch! That's basically our deal with AT&T. So I politely requested to just cancel the MCI bill... again. This brought on a fourth round of elevator music.
Upon her return, Jennifer, apparently out of sales pitches, informed me that she would be transferring me to the voicemail system which handles service cancellations. (Why, then, couldn't I have simply been directed there after punching "3" the first time around?) Finally... the last level... the chance to slay the dragon! After another round of silly menus requesting information I had already discussed thoroughly with Jennifer, I was finally given a confirmation number.
All in all, it took 40 minutes to make a simple cancellation. Makes me wonder how much MCI depends on revenue from accounts which users try to cancel, but are unable. At least I succeeded at jumping out of the understaffed or non-existent queue for cancellation calls, and we are no longer obligated for the monthly payments of $16 for land line services.
We'll probably examine the remaining land line charges later in the year. Any ideas about cheap services are welcome!
MCI savings for one year: $187.20.
Total savings so far: $1,224.40!
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