I often find myself wanting to pay less for a purchase. Be it a gadget, clothes or my wedding, I always spend time looking for a bargain after I figured out the average costs. Most of the time, I end up looking for alternatives because so many products have set pricing. My theory is that while it’s not exactly the same thing, it’s usually good enough for every day (my) use.
When I bought my camera, I looked for a lower end model because the newest one was just too expensive. And when I bought my laptop, I bought the 15 inch model even though the 17 inch looked more attractive.
Sometimes though, I would deviate from this behavior. My bed for example, is the one that I found the most comfortable. My office chair is the same way, and so was my car, although I must admit that I quickly eliminated every vehicle that wasn’t affordable from the get go.
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The Fair Credit Reporting Act entitles everyone to access credit reports from each of the three credit agencies – Experian, Equifax and TransUnion every 12 months. While there are tons of places that offer free credit reports for a free trial of their service, the only federally authorized source to offer free reports with no hidden agenda is AnnualCreditReport.com.
Some people like to order all three credit reports at once, while others like to order one report from each agency every four months. The former allows you to compare all three to see if there are any discrepancies, while spacing out your orders allow you to keep on top of your reports in a more frequent manner. Personally, I find that it’s more beneficial to space out the orders, so I will order a report from Experian in January, another from Equifax in May and TransUnion in September. That way, I think about my credit reports more frequently and if there ever comes a time when there’s an error on one of the reports, I will go ahead and order all three to see if I need to dispute the mistake immediately.
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TradeMonster is another player in the already very crowded online broker industry. Launched in October 2008 (I know, the best timing ever), this stock broker hopes to capture traders with a more intuitive trading platform that just makes sense. There are some TradeMonster promotion codes floating out there but is it worth our time otherwise? Let’s find out in this review.
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Even a banker’s advice could be totally wrong.
I can’t believe what I heard, but a banker told me that carry a credit card balance can improve my credit score. In fact, there are many people who give the same advice – don’t pay your credit card balance in full to raise your score. So today, let’s clear up all the smoke. Pay off your credit card balance regardless of what people say. Let me explain why.
It’s true that having a balance and showing that you can pay it off can increase your credit score, but you can have the same effect even if you pay off the balance in full every month. Below is an illustration of a typical credit card usage pattern:
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We received my wife’s 401k plans statement yesterday and we felt like financial geniuses. Splashed on the first page of the statement was our mutual fund performances, up 28.14% in the quarter and 18.43% year to date. My instant reaction was of joy, but it quickly faded as questions were bubbling in my head. Did the performance numbers always showed up in huge font on the first page? Am I supposed to be happy even though our 401k balances are still down from year ago levels?
As I snapped back into reality, I remembered that all companies offering 401k plans are just sales organizations. When times are good, they emphasis how great your investments are. When times are bad, they hide their tracks by telling you how others are doing just as bad.
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I won’t drink coffee unless it’s from Starbucks. They just make a better product.
Branding is very important in the retail business, because you can charge more per product and still outsell your competition. When I was a salesperson and making long drives in an unknown city, I would always stop by a Starbucks whenever I’m tired. It’s not that I thought the coffee was a notch above the rest either. It was just that the experience was consistent and predictable. I knew the setting, I knew what I wanted, how much it would cost and the product that I was getting.
If I went to local coffee shops, the predictability stops. Do they sell ice coffees? Are credit cards accepted? Is it going to be too sweet? Sure, I can be adventurous, but I wasn’t in the right mood after a full day of meetings and driving. Is it worth the hassle when my main goal is to have good sales meetings? Not really.
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