We refinanced the mortgage a couple of years back and got a really good rate. I can’t remember exactly what it was, but it was good. Recently we were contacted again and offered another refinancing deal. We allowed the guy to come over and talk to us about it, and we told him up-front that we didn’t want to do any funny stuff. But by the end of the conversation, he had us seriously considering various funny stuff that would supposedly have meant gobs of spare cash for us, or something like that. We really didn’t appreciate being treated that way.

I found some information about mortgage refinancing that can help avoid that sort of thing. They talk about full disclosure and “borrowing intelligently” - that is, being fully informed about what you’re getting into before you agree to it. They also have a bunch of calculators that will tell you about changing your mortgage length, adjusting the principal, etc. Good information if you want to refinance your home.

I like saving up points to buy stuff. I participate in a few click-to-earn programs, like MyPoints and e-Rewards. So when I was looking for a credit card - and even before I actually wanted one - I was interested in the rewards programs. I found an article from a few months ago on the Free the Drones blog that said some credit card companies are reducing how many points or cash back you get. I’m glad to hear that the cash-back programs are better than the reward points, because that’s what I ended up with - USAA Cash Rewards. I wasn’t expecting to get a “rewards” credit card at all, because of my credit history (or lack thereof?), but the USAA one definitely says I get cash back. I would actually have preferred something like Amtrak Guest Reward points, because I miss taking the train, but such is life.

There’s also a cool series at Free the Drones about retiring abroad - particularly in Costa Rica, which my mom says has a large expat community. It’s funny, I never really thought much about Costa Rica, it always seemed like a somewhat backwater sort of place, but I’m coming to find that it’s actually a very nice tropical nation - and there’s even a gay and lesbian community in San Jose!

Raise your hand if you think I can earn enough in cash-back rewards to retire in Costa Rica!

I now have my very first real credit card. I’ve used a debit card as a credit card for years - it’s easier to track your transactions if you do it that way - but when I couldn’t rent a car recently, I decided to get a real credit card. I tried the Hello Kitty Visa, the Amtrak rewards card, a couple of generic reward program cards, etc. And because I have zero credit history (except for a previously delinquent debt that is now paid off), nobody wanted to give me a credit card. But when I got my car insurance through USAA, I poked around their website a bit. They offer a Mastercard, so I applied for it and then forgot about it. But in the mail from the weekend I found my very own credit card! My credit limit is only $500 and my APR is over 20%, but it’s “platinum” (whatever that means) and now I have a card to use in emergencies or if I need to rent a car. I’m not planning to actually use it, but it’s good to know that it’s there if I need it. Yay!

They wouldn’t let me rent a car this morning. Apparently my check card is not sufficient; I have to have a credit card, even though I use the check card as a credit card all the time. They ran some check on my check card and declined me for a rental, which is absurd because I have plenty of money in my checking account - the most they charge for a deposit is $400. Once I’d been declined, they wouldn’t let me rent a car in any other way, even writing a check - nothing. Fortunately A had stayed to make sure I got the car okay, so she ended up renting the car for herself (the guy sternly told us that I was not allowed to drive it) and I ended up borrowing her car again. This is all quite preposterous, but I may end up getting a credit card and just never using it.

The good news is that we’re going to Six Flags Great Adventure this weekend, just for fun.

If you have a jar full of coins, I highly recommend Coinstar’s new coins to certificates program. If you ask the machine to turn your coins into cash, they charge a service fee of 8.9% of the total amount counted. If you have it turned into an eCertificate for Amazon.com, iTunes, Starbucks, Borders, Pier One Imports, or a few other places, the coin counting fee is waived completely. I just brought my giant jar of coins in, and here’s what I had:

Dollars	1
Half-Dollars	0
Quarters	239
Dimes	172
Nickels	164
Pennies	1036
Total	$96.51

Not bad, eh? So I now have an Amazon.com gift certificate for $96.51. A tip for those of you who bring in your coins, though - before you hit the “I’m Done” button, check the reject bin at knee level. After I had already completed my entire transaction, I discovered the reject bin held 25 quarters, 10 nickels, four dimes, and 20 pennies, for a total of $7.10 that didn’t get counted. It’s worth trying any rejects again just to see if they’ll go through, so don’t forget to do that before pressing the final button.

A friend of mine, who shall remain nameless unless e chooses to identify emself, posted recently about spending money on food and then throwing it away. My friend said that wasting money, but saving calories/fat, was still a waste.

I have a very different approach. I have been dieting, in various forms, for a few years; this approach is something I came up with very early on. For me, money is no object if it keeps me eating well. This probably also stems from my dozen-plus years as a vegetarian; it is often more expensive to live as a vegetarian than to eat meat. So maintaining my chosen dietary lifestyle has been expensive for a long time. As a dieter trying to lose weight, though, I am spending even more money, and I am okay with that.

Currently, I spend about $450/month on food. This is because I am on Diet to Go, which provides all of my food for me. It’s a good plan, and it’s successful: I have lost almost 30 pounds since January. Because it is successful, I don’t mind paying for it, even though it is about $150 more per month than fending for myself. Money is much easier to come by than weight loss, and if something costs money but allows me to lose weight, then I prefer to take the easier, more expensive route rather than struggling to lose weight - and being unhappy as a result - just to save some money.

I feel the same way about going to a restaurant. I am paying to be satisfied. If I don’t eat everything on my plate and I don’t want to bring the leftovers home, then I don’t. I paid for the meal, not the food - if I have enjoyed the meal, then I have gotten my money’s worth. Sometimes I will bring leftovers home, but only if I’m really going to eat them. Alternatively, I will deliberately only eat half and then have the rest at a later time, thereby getting two meals for the price of one.

If you are poor, or you otherwise need to watch every penny, then my approach is not for you. I’m not saying my feelings about food and money work for everyone, but they work for me, and I am happy this way. I manage both food and money in a way that I am satisfied with. It’s
become a way of life for me.

I just sent the following to PayPal, using up all but a few of my alloted 1000 characters.

I am a longtime PayPal member since its early days. I seem to remember that when tiered accounts were introduced I was upgraded to a Premier account for free - this was probably a few years ago. I do not receive payments very often and so I never realized that I was being charged a special fee. Today I received $400 and I was charged $11.90. This large fee prompted me to look into it and realize I was a Premier member. I do not appreciate being “upgraded” for free and then being charged additional fees. I have downgraded my account but I was told the $11.90 could not be refunded. I would like to appeal this decision based on the fact that I was not told about these fees when I upgraded. Payments I have received between then and now had a very small fee deducted and I thought it was standard - had I known that ONLY Premier members were charged fees, I would have downgraded long ago. I would appreciate a refund of my $11.90. Thank you.

I am really annoyed by this. It was a long time ago, back when they introduced tiered accounts, that they offered to upgrade me for free. I’m not even sure they charged separate fees for Premier accounts when the tiers first started. I’m not going to ask for retroactive refunds, but it would be nice to get my $11.90 back since I just now realized it. I’m not holding my breath, though. Fuckers.
Added: Well, that was quick - five minutes or less. Here’s what they said:
Read the rest of this entry »

A friend of mine who is a resident of DC sent an e-mail to all of his non-resident local friends asking us to write to our senators on his behalf. I want to bring his request to a wider audience. Those of you outside the DC area may not realize this, but DC residents have no representation in Congress. Their only voice is Eleanor Holmes Norton, who is a “Delegate” in the House - she has no vote, meaning DC is subject to the whims of the federal government.

The latest bright idea to come up in Congress is from Kansas senator Sam Brownback, who wants to institute a flat tax for DC. As the chair of the Senate’s Appropriations Subcommitee for DC, he gets to use the city as his personal testing ground for tax reform. Both Eleanor Holmes Norton and DC’s mayor Anthony Williams are opposed to the idea, but without a vote it can go ahead anyway.

Statehood for DC may be a long time away; even getting a vote in Congress may be a long time off. This means that DC residents need our help! If you live in the United States but not in DC, you have a voice in Congress. To help those without a voice, find your Senator’s contact information and send an e-mail asking him or her to oppose Brownback’s plans for a flat tax for DC.

I think losing your wallet has to be one of the scariest feelings in the world. Even when you know it’s been found by somebody honest, and you didn’t have any cash in it anyway, and you know you’ll get it back…it’s still scary. All I can say is, thank goodness I kept business cards in it with my cell phone number on them.

We are not leaving for New Jersey tonight after all; there are a few reasons for this but the main one is Veterans Day. Government offices will all be closed, so we would have only tomorrow to get things done. Instead we plan to go up next week. A and I each get three days of bereavement leave from work, so I am thinking we will go up next Tuesday night and stay through Saturday morning (leaving earlier if we’re done earlier).

My father’s brother says the estate is worth $100,000 but I’m thinking it will be less than that. My father had $11,000 in a bank account, a heavily-modified (to hold ham equipment) Ford Escort that’s five or six years old, and his trailer. I did a little poking around and it seems trailers sell for between $8,000 and $30,000 - this one is apparently in bad condition so it will probably be at the lower end of that range. There is a bunch of electronics and ham equipment in the trailer too; no idea how much that’s all going to turn out to be worth. We don’t know who is the beneficiary on the life insurance, and we don’t know if my father had a safe deposit box, so I am thinking all of this will come to about $50,000 at most. (These numbers absolutely stupefy me, I’ve never had that much money.) $5,000 of that will be going to reimburse my father’s brother for the funeral (I’m still disappointed that I wasn’t found in time for that, and I think the delay might have been semi-intentional), and I also plan to give him a portion to thank him for doing the right thing and contacting me. The rest is going to be college money - I never finished, and I’m hoping there will be enough for me to cut work back to part-time and get a degree.