Save Your Bucks at the Ballpark!

by Jeremy Hartley · 0 comments

baseball field
Spring is in the air and so are those baseballs. If you’re a family who enjoys our national past time, a night under the stadium lights can be a memorable walk off win… or a gut wrenching extra innings loss. Either way, most people spend a ton of dollars to see the games, but that doesn’t always need to be the case. Here’s a few tips from a frugal father who loves to take his family out to the ballgame:

1. Check Out Some Third Party Apps

Very rarely will I buy my tickets from the team’s direct site. I’ve found that season ticket holders who can’t go to all the games try to recoup their losses by selling leftover tickets through sites like www.stubhub.com, www.vividseats.com, and www.seatgeek.com. They host a plethora of ticket options fetching far lower than the retail value on direct sites. My favorite is SeatGeek, particularly their smartphone app. You can scale which seats you want, or what price range you’re looking for. What sets SeatGeek apart is the searching it does from other sites. Like those hotel and airline sites, it searches the web for the cheapest price possible and you’ll end up getting tickets at a far better deal. Their color coding method makes it quite easy to see which seats are at the hottest price (dark green being the best, red being the worst deal). Bonus: If you tap on a seat, it’ll take you to a hi-res photo from a fan who sat there so you’ll see the view of your prospective ticket.
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Can You Justify Buying a Tesla?

by Will Lipovsky · 6 comments

buy a tesla
Tesla is an auto brand founded in California by the notorious Elon Musk. Elon co-founded PayPal and also owns SpaceX – the company with a mission to colonize Mars.

While Elon is dreaming of Mars, he builds electric cars. Tesla current makes two models of cars – the Model S and the Model X. The S is a large sedan and the X is an SUV. These cars are renowned. They are safe thanks to their aluminum construction. Also, there’s no gas tank to blow up and no engine that tries to join the passengers during a front impact collision. These cars are also fast – some trim levels going 0-60 MPH in as little as three seconds – that makes the Model S one of the world’s fastest sedan – electric or gasoline. The cars are also extremely spacious since the batteries are beneath the floorboards and the drive components fit into a space about the size of a watermelon. Also, these cars are easy to maintain. You only need to worry about the wiper fluid running low. Did I mention that these cars can drive themselves? Yes, thanks to the recently introduced autopilot feature. I could go on…

Obviously, these are great cars. So why isn’t everyone driving them? One word: Price.
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Here’s How to Price Match like a Pro

by Jeremy Hartley · 0 comments

paying at the cash registerWe all have to eat, but we don’t always have to pay the sticker price. Walmart and Target allow consumers to price match from competing stores and online markets, and these retailers can afford it because few are taking advantage from such a discount. Price matching can be a little overwhelming and complicated, but with a few helpful tips, you’ll be able to get the best price when it comes to grocery shopping.

#1: Plan Ahead!

Get in the habit of making a grocery list in order to make the most use of price matching. After making a run through your fridge and pantry, compile a two-column list of needs and wants. Once you have your list, compare it with the weekly ads in your junk mail (yes, even junk mail has its benefits). Then circle every item in those ads with the items on your list with a marker. If you have kids, get them involved and treat the circling task like a fun picture word-search. My kids get a kick out of it, and I’m sure yours will too.
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Would You Pass a Financial Fitness Quiz?

by Miranda Marquit · 0 comments

fit gentleman
I’ve spent a lot time thinking about my financial situation the past few weeks. Part of that has to do with my newer, bigger tax bill as a result of my recent divorce, as well as the medical bills resulting from breaking my wrist a few weeks ago.

I’m fortunate that I have resources and options to help with these expenses, and I’ve thought about what would have happened if my financial fitness had been different, or if I had a long line of disappointing financial situations.

For Financial Literacy Month, CO-OP Financial Services released a quiz that can help you get a basic idea of where you stand when it comes to financial fitness:
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Double the Money: Saving Your Dollars with Twins

by Jeremy Hartley · 8 comments

twins
My toddler twins turn three this month and we’re awestruck at how big and beautiful they’re becoming. When we found out a few years ago that we will have not one, but two infants to handle, my wife was thrilled and I was left in shock. Questions starting steamrolling through my mind. Could I afford to feed two mouths? Will we need to move? Can I support my growing family? After three years of hits and misses, I’ve found a few tips that have certainly helped.

Don’t Always Buy Double Everything

People ask us all the time if we buy two of everything, and you’d be surprised how often we tell people the opposite. It is true that some of their toys and clothes are the same, but quite often we’ll purposefully purchase one item to lighten the load on our wallet and to teach them an opportunity to share.

Research Those Toys Before Buying

I can’t tell you how many dollars we threw away over a toy that broke just a few days later. Our Christmas presents to them have already seen the bottom of the trash can. This gloomy end was partly my fault for not researching the toy. It’s important to check out the reviews to make sure you’re getting an item that is consumer friendly and not a consumer nightmare. Because our twins love to play, we’ve also found it helpful to visit the local thrift store to drop off our rejected toys, and buy a few more at a great price.
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Your Costco Credit Card Just Got Cooler

by Jeremy Hartley · 4 comments

credit card breakup
Costco and American Express recently broke up, and Visa has seized the opportunity. This means that the Costco branded payment card is changing at the warehouse. After doing some research on the card, I’m excited for this new relationship which officially begins on June 20, 2016. Plenty of perks are “in store” (pun intended) for cardholders.

Better Cash Back!

The current Costco American Express TrueEarnings Card gives offers 3% cash back on gasoline purchases at Costco, 2% cash back on travel expenses and restaurants (in the U.S only), and 1% cash back on all other purchases. That was great and all, but check this out – the new Costco Anywhere Visa Card (offered by Citi) boasts a 4% cash back on Costco gasoline purchases, 3% cash back on travel and restaurants (worldwide) and the same 1% return on other purchases. You’ll still receive this cash as a voucher that arrives every February.

A Newer Cash Back Opportunity

The Visa card offers one more perk I’m particularly excited about. When you shop at Costco or Costco.com, you’ll receive 2% cash back instead of the usual 1% offered by American Express. This new incentive will see your February voucher rise if you’re a big Costco shopper. Note: the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express offers 6% cash back on groceries. If you’re not a Costco subscriber, then it might be worthwhile to shop at Sam’s Club and use this card instead.

Everything Will Roll Over

In case you’re sweating about the transition, rest assured that Costco, Visa, and American Express are making this as easy as possible. You’ll be provided with new account information when your new card arrives in the mail, and your balance will automatically be rolled over. Also, your credit score will not be affected in any way. However, if you have any recurring payments, you’ll need to enter your new card information.

A Few More Incentives

Your new Visa card offers worldwide car rental insurance, travel accident insurance, and trip cancellation protection. You’ll also enjoy an extended warranty on your purchases (which means if the manufacturer fails on a product, you’ll have a longer time to return if you use the new Visa). If items purchased by your Visa card are stolen within 120 days, the new card offers refunds too. Same goes for damages, except this incentive will first try to cover repairs first.

The new relationship between Costco and Visa is an excited time in the credit world. Walmart has already countered with their new “3-2-1 Program”. Since Visa has raised the bar, we could see a credit card war emerge, which is great for the consumer.

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