Gas and Electric Bill

Today I logged into my utility provider's online access site to check what my monthly utility bill is and wow did my jaw drop. My bill this month is for $190, of the $70 was from electric use and the rest is from gas use. My electric use was average compared to my past bills, but my heating bill was very high. I think this is due to the fact that in February the average temperature was pretty low compared to earlier winter months. I figured I would look at how my usage is. Mainly most of my electric usage is from a desktop pc I have running 24x7, then after work or school when I come home I will watch some TV, get on the laptop, or both, then the rest of my usage is mainly from using the microwave for breakfast, the stove for food, then the lights when I am home, and that is pretty much it. As far as gas usage that is mainly from the water heater and the heating system. I keep my showers no more than 10 minutes if that, then I have a pilot light running for the fireplace, and that is all. I am trying to think of ways to cut my costs. I know I should start with that server desktop I have on 24x7. I mainly use that to remote into when I am at work, school, or at someone's house. I am considering to switch that to a laptop based system. Actually I am working on this right now. I already have CLF bulbs all through the house. Besides that I do not see where else I can save money. I already use a programmable thermostat, which is always set at 63 degree f. Maybe during the day I should have lowered the setting even further? That is pretty much all of my ideas.

Another Rebate, Spending, New Car or Used Car

I got a $20 rebate in the mail today from Netgear, which I submitted the forms for back in mid December. This rebate also had some problems as well from the rebate issuer. They claimed I didn't send all of the required items, when I in fact did. Anyways I got the rebate.

Overall I have decreased my spending. This is partially due to the fast that I have already bought most of what I wanted for my house. I do not have everything in the world yet, but I have enough to have a simple and somewhat furnished house. Luckily I do not have any debts or outstanding credit card balances, just a mortgage. The next big thing I am trying to save up for is a wedding ring for my girlfriend and as well as a wedding.

Today I noticed that my neighbor just got a new Honda CRV. He traded in his Jeep Liberty, which was constantly giving him problems. He got the EX version, which is surely nice, but it got me wondering, why spend so much for a depreciating asset? When I graduated from undergrad I wanted to buy a new car too, but I ended up getting a used late model Toyota coupe. I partially wanted a coupe just since everyone has told me enjoy a coupe before you have kids and I also wanted something sporty. Anyways I got a good deal and it only had 35k miles. I love the car and have not had any problems. Best of all it looks flawless. My dad has taught me to not consider a new car unless I do not mind it's value depreciating. I figured if my neighbor looked around he could have gotten a good deal on a used CRV, but most likely it wouldn't have been the latest generation design. I know it is a personal preference. Overall I think everyone should look at or consider a used car before buying a new car.

Another Rebate and On Hold With Sprint

Good news is today I got a $30 Radio Shack mail in rebate for a Logitech Wireless Keyboard and mouse.

Today I contacted Sprint in order to get a replacement Motorola RAZR, since the one I got for my dad was not holding a charge for a long period. My parents were out of contract on their cell phone lines with Sprint and they have had their current phones for over 2 years. I ended up calling Sprint and saying I was going to leave them since Verizon and Cingular are offering the RAZR for $25 or even free. The retention rep offered 2 Motorola RAZR's for $50, which was a good deal for a full featured phone, so I went with this deal. I wanted my parents to have a feature rich phone that was also small and easy to use. Another advantage is that this phone has a built in mp3 player with removable memory, which would come in handy when my parents do not have their IPods with them, but want to listen to music. I was on hold for roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes, but I finally got a rep who helped me. The rep is sending out a new RAZR replacement phone as cell as a prepaid mailer to use when sending the defective phone back. The wait time was very long, but I guess in the end it will pay off since my dad will have a phone that actually maintains a charge.

Taxes - Now Need Receipt/Proof of Donations

I heard from my CPA as well as others online that the IRS will now require people to have some type of proof or receipt for cash donations. This was brought to my attention by my CPA, since I normally make a once a month donation to the place I go to pray.

End of Citi Dividends 5% Cash Back

As I mentioned before I had a MasterCard and an American Express Citi Dividends Platinum Card. Both of these cards offered 5% cash back on grocery, gas, and pharmaceutical purchases. The one thing I liked about the American Express card is that it offered the price protection feature that American Express used to offer on majority of their cards. With this is mind, I closed my MasterCard card and had it's credit line transferred to my American Express' card. I think I will continue to carry the Citi Dividends American Express card in my wallet. Also as mentioned earlier, I am still considering whether or not to replace the Discover 5% cash back card for gas and auto mechanic shop purchases. Recently I also noticed that more and more restaurants are starting to not accept Discover credit cards. This problem has become annoying at times when trying to use my Discover Restaurant card that gives 5% cash back on restaurant purchases. Luckily I normally carry at least 3 to 4 credit cards on me.

Tips

Friday evening I attended a happy hour which was in honor for a coworker who was leaving the company to run a sushi restraurant and a fast food franchise. A table in the pub cleared, so some co workers and I went to sit at the table. We noticed that the bill was on the table for the previous 2 people who were sitting at the table. Their bill was for $70, but they only left the waitress a $4 tip. This got me wonderering, why would people leave such a low tip, are they being fruggle, was the service bad, or are they just being cheap. The people who the bill was for had a decently prived wine bottle, had some cigars, and other various drinks. Just from that I figured they must not be that cheap. A coworker who I was sitting with, had a friend of his sit with us as well. His friend saw the bill and pretty said "what the heck, only a $4 tip, that is messed up". His dsguist in the tip led him to change the tip and total amount, which I thought was nice but then again the pub might be blamed for such a false action, which is bad. This friend of my coworkers, made the tip to be $24 and added a few strokes to make the total $94. He meant to do this to be nice, but then again when the previous customers check their credit card bill, they may fight the charge. Anyways though I was wondering what do other fruggle people think a good tip amount should be?

State Tax Return

Yestreday in the mail I recieved my state tax return, which was around $500. I can't believe how fast it came, especially since I just had my account e-file my taxes on Tuesday when I went to see her to go over my taxes. Wow....4 days is not bad!!! I was excited about that. I deposited the check and will have it transferred into my savings account.

Doc's No Show Fee

I forgot to mention this, but on Thursday my dad got a letter in the mail which was addressed in my name and from the ophthalmologist who I used to go to. I was supposed to go see this doctor until I found out he does not accept my insurance. Originally I did make an appointment, which gave me time to find out whether or not my insurance would cover any expenses if I was to go see him. Apparently my insurance will not cover the bill, so I wanted to cancel my appointment. A day before the appointment, I went ahead and canceled the appointment. This letter that recently was in the mail was in regard to a $50 no show fee for the doctor. I read the letter and thought what the heck, I did in fact cancel my appointment. So on Friday I called the doctor's office and talked to a rep who helped straighten out this mess. Sure $50 may not seem like much, but then again I did not do anything where I was be at fault, so why give away my $50. Again every penny counts. I understand why doctors have this policy, but they should make sure that whoever handles their appointments, know what they are doing.

ING Orange Checking Debit Card

Today I had a good opportunity to use my ING Orange Checking Debit card and as expected it worked as it should. Still still this day my employer has not deposited my paycheck into my ING Orange Checking account. This has been the second pay period where the direct deposit did not go through since the requested change. Hopefully by my next pay period the paycheck will be deposited into my ING Orange checking account.

An another note my eBay stock went down today, but my shares of AMD went up. My other investment accounts did well though, so I am not complaining, nor did I invest much into the Zecco stock account I have.

AAA, Mail in Rebate, New Job, Taxes, Stocks

Today I received my reimbursement check from AAA which was for the car battery and fuse issues, which I posted about earlier.

Also in the mail I got a postcard from Kensington in regard to a mail in rebate. They stated that the product I purchased was not within the purchased time frame, when in fact it was. I always keep photocopies of my rebates, so I referred to that and contacted the toll free line. The rep who I spoke with said she will re-evaluate my rebate and I check it's status online within 72 hours.

I officially start my new work position on Monday, but was told I could use today and Friday as transitioning days. Thus, today I went to report to my new job and I loved it. I am working more in the networking/server field now. The first few days will be spent getting acclimated to the job.


I forgot to post this, but on Tuesday I went to see my CPA in regard to my taxes for 2006. I must say she is a great accountant who is friendly, affordable, knowledgeable, and knows where to save money. I was referred to her from my Dad's coworker. For everything related she charged me $90, which was well worth it. I mostly chose to go to a CPA for my taxes this time, just since I now am a homeowner, which changes some things now. Overall I am to get a few thousand dollars back from the federal and my state government.

Today I also got back into investing in stocks through an online broker. I am currently using Zecco.com, which provides up to 40 free trades/month. For now I do not think I will be a hardcore trader, so 40 trades should be fine for me. I used to follow the market heavily when I turned 18 and opened my first brokerage account, but soon after once I was working and making more money, I opened a Roth IRA account, then a 401k account through my employer. I was closing one of my Bank of America account and had $60 in it, so I transferred that balance to my Zecco account. Again I am not looking to invest a lot at the current time, just test ot Zecco and get my feet in the water again. I purchased a share of EBay and 2 shares of AMD. At the end of the day I made $0.09 (it's something), which is not too bad. This may turn into be a small hobby, which hopefully I will do well in. Again I do not think I will invest too much in stocks, since my other investments are doing very well, but I figured I should diversify my portfolio a bit.

Citi Dividends Credit Card Changes

Today in the mail I received 2 letters from Citi in regard to both my Citi Dividends MasterCard and my Citi Dividends American Express Card. Both these cards used to offer 5% cash back on grocery, gas, and pharmacy purchases. The letter today stated that the 5% is being lowered to 2% now. In my wallet I used to carry the American Express card, since it offered the cash back as well as it was an American Express card, which was nice to use when purchasing groceries. So now with this change I have to reevaluate what cards to keep in my wallet. I currently carry a Discover 5% cash back on restaurant purchases, a Discover 5% cash back on gas purchases, an Orchard Bank 2% cash back on all purchases, and for now I have replaced the 4th card with the American Express Simply Cash card, which offers 5% cash back on office supplies, gas, and cell phone related purchases. Overall I am now in the process to see if there is anything better to use, so we shall see how that goes. I like to have the separate cards to separate my purchases, which makes it easier when paying bills.

New Job Position

So last month my manager emailed me about a job opening in our company and thought I may be interested. The position greatly interested me, but I wasn't too sure if I would even get it since I have only been with the company for a little over a year and recently graduated. I have learned from experience that it is always beneficial to have a great relationship with all of your past coworkers and managers/supervisors. Luckily my first manager at my current employer is wonderful and has always looked out for me as far as available positions. At first I wasn't too sure about applying for this position, but he told me to apply and he also mentioned he will put in a good word for me. He pretty much said it would b a step up the ladder from what I currently do as well as it has better room for income growth and advancement. I followed his advice and applied. The day after submitting my resume I was scheduled for an interview with the supervisor of the new position. My interview went great and he told me that he thinks I would be a great candidate for the job. About 3 days later my current manager met with me to discuss if I was to get the position, she would need to find someone to fill my current position. She asked me about my job duties and what hurdles a person new to the job may face. My manager mentioned that she may know someone who could fit the job well, but she needed to talk to this potential candidate first. My manager found someone who would accept my current position and she informed me that next week I will be able to transition to my new position. Overall I am greatly excited is the new position related to something I have always been interested in and I think it will help me advance myself in the company and if not it will allow me to build a skill set that other companies are greatly interested in. My overall pay increases by 7%, but I do not get paid for overtime anymore, instead I will accrue paid time off/vacation time, which can be carried to the next calendar year and in some cases can be cashed in, and best of all I will no longer have to spend $140/month of parking. Every year there is a cost of living raise as well as a bonus, which is dependent on your performance evaluation, which I have done great in so far. My pay increase for the new position was not as much, since I will be starting the job mid year and this is a new position, which was not originally budgeted for, but next year my pay will increase accordingly since the budget will include the position, which will be the best part of the deal.

Credit Score Monitoring Service

About 3 weeks ago I signed up for Citi's Credit Monitoring service, which was for $4.99/month. I pretty much just wanted to try the service out and see how it is different than my Providian (now Washington Mutual) credit card that tells me my credit score, which is updated on a monthly basis, but is free for having the credit card. Overall I was not impressed with Citi's product and decided to cancel it today. Citi has a 30 day money back guarantee, so I got my $4.99 back. Not a huge deal, but still every penny can help.

Back From Vacation

So I got back early this morning around 3am from my mini vacation to Miami with some of my friends. Overall the trip was not too expensive at all, especially when considering all that we did. The grand total for my part of the trip came out to be $641.14. The costs for the trip was split between a total of 8 guys. For the most part everything in Miami costs more than it does in other places. For example regular unleaded gas was on average $2.79/gallon versus the $2.39 it is around where I live. The total costs of the 3 day trip covered flights to and from Fort Lauderdale, rental of a Lincoln Navigator SUV, 1 night for 2 bedrooms at an average hotel, which by the way was horrible, then 1 night at the Ritz Carlton, tickets to a concert, tickets to the pre-party, tickets to the after-party, gas for the SUV (1 fill-up), parking for the SUV, alcoholic beverages, and lastly airport parking.

Yes, I know there would have been better alternatives as fas as savings costs associated to the trip, but for this trip I was surely not trying to be too frugal, which is not the norm when it comes to me and vacations.

Mini-Vacation

I will be enjoying a mini vacation for the weekend. I will post back on Monday.

AAA Alternatives

I was looking into some AAA alternatives. Currently it is my father you is a AAA member and I just use his membership card if needed. Yesterday my friend told me that most American Express cards offer free road side assistance, but a max of 4 calls/year. Also you are limited to being towed in a 10 mile radius. This is a free perk to most of the American Express cards.

Another option is getting some roadside assistance coverage through your car insurance. I think my insurance company quoted me $24/year for this, but I do not know the specifics.

Overall people may want to consider checking their credit cards to see if anything like this offered and if so what is its terms and conditions.

Good Timing - Rebates

I checked my mail yesterday and guess what? I got another rebate in the mail. This time it was for $25 for an external hard driver that was for $30 after rebate. Back when Buy.com had it's Google Checkout promotion I purchased a lot of computer related products that were even cheaper due to rebates and the the Google Checkout promotion. I mailed this rebate around December 12, 2006 and got it on February 28, 2007...not bad!