Katie & Scott & Simon & Cecily.

Tag: money (Page 1 of 5)

Day 344: credit card savings

I recently signed up for a new credit card.  While our primary credit card will remain the American Express Blue Cash card, which has served us well in the past, I’m moving our secondary card from the Citi World Dividend Mastercard to the Citi Forward Visa.

This relates to my philosophy of spending money, which is to save on every dollar I spend.  If I can charge it onto the American Express, I know I’m getting at least 1.5 cents back (and sometimes, even 5 cents).  Before, charging it on the Mastercard would net 1 cent back (and sometimes 2), but that always felt a bit low to me.  Additionally, the Mastercard required an accumulation of $50 in cash back before they would cut you a check.

The Citi Forward card is much more appealing.  It gives 5 points per dollar spent at restaurants and movie theaters (and 1 point on everything else), plus a bonus 100 points per billing cycle if we don’t pay late (which we never do).  While the points are not quite as good as cash back (the trade ratio is a bit lower for points, about 71 cents per 100 points for a statement credit, with slightly better ratios for a mortgage payment or certain gift cards), the extra points that accumulate are much more advantageous, especially for a backup credit card.  It still works out to about 3.5 cents “cash” back per dollar spent at any restaurant.

Of course, if I really wanted to maximize my cash back when spending, I would use different credit cards for every different type of transaction (i.e. a specific gas credit card, a specific grocery credit card, a specific restaurant credit card, and a specific airline credit card).  But there are just certain practical limitations and a certain level of ease of use that you have to accept in your life.

Maybe when I’m older.  Maybe then, I’ll be comfortable doing hours of research so that I can go into CVS with a wallet full of coupons and buy toilet paper for a quarter.  Until then, this two credit card system has worked and it does make me feel better knowing that, unless I pay cash, I’m never quite spending as much as the receipt says.

Day 338: donating

Yesterday, I gave $35 to Doctors Without Borders to help with earthquake recovery in Haiti.

Overall, I don’t give too much money to charity.  It’s never really bothered me, never made me feel guilty, but I realize that the giving that I do make is somewhat random.

For the past two years, Katie and I have given to our local NPR station because we listen to it on a daily basis and feel a bit obligated to support it in return.  Last year, I also additionally gave a small bit to WBEZ, the Chicago NPR station that hosts This American Life and is responsible for paying for the podcast, which I listen to most weeks.

The only other regular donation is to CMU, just to help boost alumni giving numbers, but that’s really only when I remember to do it.

The last voluntary donation that I gave (aside from the odd dollar at checkout in supermarkets or pet stores) is probably to the Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina.  So, does it really take an epic disaster for me to step up to the donation table?  Should I carve out a portion of my yearly income to go to those that need help?

Is money given to the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders during a non-major-disaster any less useful than now?

Am I not pulling my weight in doing more for the greater good?  Alas, I don’t give blood as often as I could either!  Am I just being too greedy?  Or is donating to charity above and beyond normal duty?

Day 331: premature tax excitement

I’m always eager to start doing our tax returns.  Not because I’m some kind of Communist hero who wants to give my money to the government right away, nor because I’m some kind of greedy spender who needs his refund check ASAP.

I think it has a bit to do with the fact that I like seeing the numbers get crunched, as well as wanting to be done with it early enough that I don’t have to worry about anything come April.

I started getting emails from TurboTax as soon as it became 2010, reminding me to get started on my taxes.  Oh, what guilty zeal and excitement those emails gave me in my gooey center.

But, like a fifth grader watching the high school cheerleading team from afar, there’s not much I can realistically do.  Most of the vital income information is in our work W-4s, and those don’t typically get sent until February.  Bank interest statements also trickle in throughout February.

I usually don’t get a complete picture of our tax finances until March.  Why must TurboTax tease me so?  If I could bang out our returns in full tonight, I would!

But alas, we must wait.

In the meantime, I suppose I’ll play some video games or go to some classes about childbirth.

Day 313: haircut avoidance

I got my hair cut this past weekend.  And no, I didn’t use the comb’n’cut.  I went to Supercuts where I paid someone else to cut my hair.

As usual, it took some prodding from Katie.

And it got me thinking about my inexplicable aversion to haircuts.  I think it comes down to economics and the fact that I care less about my appearance than I should.

The economics is simple: the less often I get my hair cut, the less money I spend on my hair in a year.  And, it means less time in the year spent waiting for an open chair and less time sitting around while my hair gets cut.

The appearance?  Maybe it’s because I grew up with my mom cutting my hair and it became something I took for granted.  It’s something that I always had done at home in our garage and now you want to pay some stranger to do it?

Or it could be that I see myself as two different people: the post-haircut Scott, who has short clean hair, who has it together and never has to do anything to get his hair to naturally style itself into a decent professional look.  And pre-haircut Scott, who lets his hair grow just long enough to suggest that he may have a hipster vibe about him, that he doesn’t care about the establishment, with just the tiniest bit of gel in his hair.

I suppose laziness also factors into it.  Even when my hair gets longer, I don’t gel it all that often and I’ll just let it fall into my eyes and let my sideburns grow until they pop out under my glasses in odd directions.  And I’m sure, at that point, I’m not the most attractive guy at the pub.

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