We left our taxes until last night. I don't know why; it's not like we owe money. It's just one of those things that's easy to forget over the course of weekend after weekend, until the deadline is at hand. We're not getting back as much as last year, but that's mostly because the Mrs. only worked for about one-third of 2008.
For a number of years we have been able to file our Massachusetts state taxes over the phone, but now they have an online system. It was pretty simple, except I had to enter all the W-2 information for each form. This wasn't horrible, but if you have more than one job, and your spouse has more than one job, it could get pretty tedious pretty fast.
Showing posts with label Earning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Earning. Show all posts
15 April 2009
27 February 2009
The Virtues of Thrift, Part 5
I have to confess that I don't have an item for today. When I started putting this together at the beginning of the week, I decided to split up the posts because the ideas were turning into too much for just one post. I assumed that by the time I got to today, I would have thought of something.
Well, here it is Friday afternoon and inspiration hasn't struck. But that's okay; I can still offer a couple of quick tips. First, some of the Stop & Shop supermarkets in our area have gas stations, and if you have one of their rewards cards you get something like five cents per gallon off the posted price. But periodically they run promotions where, over a certain period of time, each dollar you spend on groceries earns a point, and when you reach a certain number of points (100, I think) you get ten cents off per gallon on your next fill-up. I don't drive, so I don't buy gas, but this discount seems to make the Mrs. happy.
In a similar vein, warehouse clubs like BJ's and Costco sell gas at discounted prices (though not in our part of the country). That's just one of many reasons why joining one of these facilities can be beneficial. But how do you know if a club membership will be worth it to you? It depends on where you live (whether or not a club is conveniently located); how often you shop and how much you buy; whether or not you have the room to store bulk quantities of cheese, toilet paper, cat litter, or whatever; the size of your family, etc.
If you have a friend who belongs to a club, ask to tag along so you can get a look at the merchandise and the prices. Also, I know that BJ's frequently sends out free trial membership offers that give you 30 to 60 days to shop and evaluate. Or maybe your employer (like mine) offers discounted memberships as an employee benefit. Clubs in some parts of the US (but again, not in New England) also sell wine, beer, and liquor. Oh, how I wish...
But above all (and I've said this before, but it bears repeating) you need to know what stuff costs in order to know if you're getting a good deal. This is true not just for warehouse club shopping, but everywhere you spend money. You have to do your homework. If you're not willing to invest even a little time and effort, you're probably going to end up spending too much.
Well, here it is Friday afternoon and inspiration hasn't struck. But that's okay; I can still offer a couple of quick tips. First, some of the Stop & Shop supermarkets in our area have gas stations, and if you have one of their rewards cards you get something like five cents per gallon off the posted price. But periodically they run promotions where, over a certain period of time, each dollar you spend on groceries earns a point, and when you reach a certain number of points (100, I think) you get ten cents off per gallon on your next fill-up. I don't drive, so I don't buy gas, but this discount seems to make the Mrs. happy.
In a similar vein, warehouse clubs like BJ's and Costco sell gas at discounted prices (though not in our part of the country). That's just one of many reasons why joining one of these facilities can be beneficial. But how do you know if a club membership will be worth it to you? It depends on where you live (whether or not a club is conveniently located); how often you shop and how much you buy; whether or not you have the room to store bulk quantities of cheese, toilet paper, cat litter, or whatever; the size of your family, etc.
If you have a friend who belongs to a club, ask to tag along so you can get a look at the merchandise and the prices. Also, I know that BJ's frequently sends out free trial membership offers that give you 30 to 60 days to shop and evaluate. Or maybe your employer (like mine) offers discounted memberships as an employee benefit. Clubs in some parts of the US (but again, not in New England) also sell wine, beer, and liquor. Oh, how I wish...
But above all (and I've said this before, but it bears repeating) you need to know what stuff costs in order to know if you're getting a good deal. This is true not just for warehouse club shopping, but everywhere you spend money. You have to do your homework. If you're not willing to invest even a little time and effort, you're probably going to end up spending too much.
26 February 2009
The Virtues of Thrift, Part 4
Check your clearance. Clearance shopping can be something of a sport for some people (APB, I'm looking in you...) and about as much fun as a root canal for others. But if you have the inclination you can find excellent deals, especially at the end of a season when stores are trying to get rid of what's left to make way for the new stuff.
It also helps if you're an odd size. Logically, the more average sizes tend to be gone first, but if you happen to be very small or somewhat larger than average, you may find things left in your size after everything else is gone. Also, consider that many clothing lines tend to run small these days; you might think you're a large, but if extra large is all that's left, try it on anyway--it might be the size that fits you best.
It can be useful to get on email lists for stores whose clothing you like. That way you'll get first notice when sales or markdowns occur. Be aware, though, that the same item can be one price on the store's web site and a different price in the store. Sometimes you have to make the purchase whatever way you're getting the best deal.
Sometimes you'll see an item at the beginning of a season and decide you don't think it's worth the asking price, but if maybe a couple of months later you're back in the same store and that same item is now 50% or more off, the value equation changes somewhat.
I don't make a habit of buying a lot of clothing at Target, but I do find things there occasionally. And I usually take a spin through the clearance racks when I'm in the store, because you never know. A couple of months back I found a nice shirt on a Target clearance rack for $6.24, which was 75% off its original price. For about what I pay for lunch on a typical day, I would have been foolish not to buy it.
It also helps if you're an odd size. Logically, the more average sizes tend to be gone first, but if you happen to be very small or somewhat larger than average, you may find things left in your size after everything else is gone. Also, consider that many clothing lines tend to run small these days; you might think you're a large, but if extra large is all that's left, try it on anyway--it might be the size that fits you best.
It can be useful to get on email lists for stores whose clothing you like. That way you'll get first notice when sales or markdowns occur. Be aware, though, that the same item can be one price on the store's web site and a different price in the store. Sometimes you have to make the purchase whatever way you're getting the best deal.
Sometimes you'll see an item at the beginning of a season and decide you don't think it's worth the asking price, but if maybe a couple of months later you're back in the same store and that same item is now 50% or more off, the value equation changes somewhat.
I don't make a habit of buying a lot of clothing at Target, but I do find things there occasionally. And I usually take a spin through the clearance racks when I'm in the store, because you never know. A couple of months back I found a nice shirt on a Target clearance rack for $6.24, which was 75% off its original price. For about what I pay for lunch on a typical day, I would have been foolish not to buy it.
25 February 2009
The Virtues of Thrift, Part 3
I've realized that perhaps I was unintentionally being a bit misleading by referring to these ideas as "thrift." I don't consider myself thrifty, even though my mother is (and her mother was) an enthusiastic practitioner of thrift. But I do consider myself a smart consumer, and one of the things I'm always trying to do here is help you spend your money more wisely.
Web savings. If you're going to shop online anyway, why not get a little something extra out of it? Several months back, a friend suggested I sign up for Ebates, a site that offers money back on your web purchases. When you sign up, they start you out by giving you (and the friend who referred you) $5. Then, when you want to shop on the web, you first go to the Ebates site and click on the link for the sites you want to visit, which is how the purchases get tagged to your Ebates account.
It takes a little while to get used to doing your online shopping this way, but it's worth it. I just received my rebate last week, which amounted to around $36. Normally the rebate covers a three-month period, but this one went back to when I had signed up during the summer. The rebate comes in the form of a PayPal payment, or you can choose to have them send you a check.
Many online retailers pay for referrals, which is where the rebate money comes from. Ebates claims that they are simply passing that money along to their members instead of keeping it. Works for me.
Web savings. If you're going to shop online anyway, why not get a little something extra out of it? Several months back, a friend suggested I sign up for Ebates, a site that offers money back on your web purchases. When you sign up, they start you out by giving you (and the friend who referred you) $5. Then, when you want to shop on the web, you first go to the Ebates site and click on the link for the sites you want to visit, which is how the purchases get tagged to your Ebates account.
It takes a little while to get used to doing your online shopping this way, but it's worth it. I just received my rebate last week, which amounted to around $36. Normally the rebate covers a three-month period, but this one went back to when I had signed up during the summer. The rebate comes in the form of a PayPal payment, or you can choose to have them send you a check.
Many online retailers pay for referrals, which is where the rebate money comes from. Ebates claims that they are simply passing that money along to their members instead of keeping it. Works for me.
24 February 2009
The Virtues of Thrift, Part 2
Get changed. Perhaps you've noticed those green Coinstar machines at the front of your local supermarket (these days, likely being used by an older person trying to scrape together enough to buy some saltine crackers and a scratch ticket). Not everyone is aware of this, but these machines also offer gift cards from several major retailers, both brick-and-mortar stores like Lowe's and online-only retailers like Amazon. Coinstar charges a transaction fee of around 9% if you turn your coins into cash, but if you turn them into a gift card no fee is charged, so you get the full value of your coinage.
In the mood for a cup of coffee? You can turn your pennies into a Starbucks card. Want to see a movie? Get a card for AMC Theatres. Itching for some new music? They even have iTunes gift cards. Other choices include Eddie Bauer, Old Navy, Borders, CVS, Overstock.com, and a few more. I'd imagine that Coinstar is actively pursuing other such partnerships, so the selection is likely to improve over time, though when I was using the machine at our local Stop & Shop, the Mrs. wondered why you couldn't redeem coins for a Stop & Shop gift card, which is a very good point.
I am one of those people who tends to save up change for a long time. I used to then put it into rolls and deposit it in my bank account. Thanks to the Coinstar machine, I was able to avoid that huge waste of time; I had enough change to get an Eddie Bauer gift card that I used to buy a badly-needed pair of shearling-lined slippers, and I paid only the shipping charge (because the slippers were on clearance, I was afraid they would be gone if I waited for the next free shipping promotion, which would have made it an even better deal).
You do have to have at least $5 in change to get any sort of gift card. One other potential drawback worth mentioning is that you kind of have to know in advance what you want, or at least what store you want to shop at. Also, the selection of gift card choices can vary from machine to machine; your best bet is to use the Coinstar web site to search for machines in your area (the site tells you what cards are available in each machine, which is actually pretty handy).
It's also worth noting that Coinstar recently purchased Redbox, the company behind those other machines at the front of the supermarket, so I would think that you'll be able to turn your loose change into movie rentals at some point in the not-too-distant future.
In the mood for a cup of coffee? You can turn your pennies into a Starbucks card. Want to see a movie? Get a card for AMC Theatres. Itching for some new music? They even have iTunes gift cards. Other choices include Eddie Bauer, Old Navy, Borders, CVS, Overstock.com, and a few more. I'd imagine that Coinstar is actively pursuing other such partnerships, so the selection is likely to improve over time, though when I was using the machine at our local Stop & Shop, the Mrs. wondered why you couldn't redeem coins for a Stop & Shop gift card, which is a very good point.
I am one of those people who tends to save up change for a long time. I used to then put it into rolls and deposit it in my bank account. Thanks to the Coinstar machine, I was able to avoid that huge waste of time; I had enough change to get an Eddie Bauer gift card that I used to buy a badly-needed pair of shearling-lined slippers, and I paid only the shipping charge (because the slippers were on clearance, I was afraid they would be gone if I waited for the next free shipping promotion, which would have made it an even better deal).
You do have to have at least $5 in change to get any sort of gift card. One other potential drawback worth mentioning is that you kind of have to know in advance what you want, or at least what store you want to shop at. Also, the selection of gift card choices can vary from machine to machine; your best bet is to use the Coinstar web site to search for machines in your area (the site tells you what cards are available in each machine, which is actually pretty handy).
It's also worth noting that Coinstar recently purchased Redbox, the company behind those other machines at the front of the supermarket, so I would think that you'll be able to turn your loose change into movie rentals at some point in the not-too-distant future.
23 February 2009
The Virtues of Thrift
I had hoped to get something else up before the end of the work week, but deadlines took precedence. And it wasn't exactly a hectic weekend, so there wasn't any good reason for me not to post then. Mea culpa.
With all sorts of horrible financial news assaulting us pretty much daily, I thought I would share a few tips on how I lead what I consider a comfortable lifestyle without overspending. I decided to break up the post into daily (sort of) bite-size pieces, and I'll post one every day this week.
Sell some stuff. I recently sold a couple of items on eBay, one of which was a vintage watch that brought in nearly $200. I then used that money, in the form of a PayPal balance, to buy other things. Some of it was stuff I needed, some was stuff I just wanted. Among other things, I got the DVD set of the first season of Mad Men, and a couple of new cashmere sweaters for $20 each.
One caveat about buying sweaters on eBay: a lot of people seem to have a tendency to put their sweaters on hangers, which is terrible, because it causes a sweater to stretch out of shape. A sweater should never be stored on a hanger. Sometimes they do this just to take the pictures, but you can bet sometimes it gets left on the hanger for weeks or months. If it's an extreme case, you may be able to tell just by looking at the photos, but if you think you might want to wear something to work or on any occasion when you want to look good, it might be worth your time to ask the seller how the sweater has been treated. Now, some people might say, "If you're only spending $20 what's the difference?" but it's your money, and a bargain isn't really a bargain if it's all stretched out and fits poorly and you end up not wearing it or having to give it away.
If you use PayPal to make a purchase there is no fee or service charge, but if you are the seller then PayPal does take a cut. Some people bristle at this, but it's a cost of doing business, just like stores and catalogs and online retailers have to pay a credit card processing fee. But the nice thing about having a PayPal balance is that you don't have to use it only on eBay. Many sites now accept PayPal as a form of payment, so if you've been a lucky seller you have some flexibility. I was able to use part of my PayPal balance to add an auxiliary hard drive to my TiVo, which roughly quadrupled its recording capacity. Just what he needs, you're thinking, and you're probably right, but it's too late.
One other thing about selling on eBay: be very specific about who can, or cannot, make a purchase from you. I learned this the hard way during my most recent couple of auction sales. The high bidder for the watch I sold had a perfect feedback rating, but after the auction ended and I didn't receive payment for a couple of days, I went and checked the buyer information and found that the person had shut down his/her eBay account and disappeared. Nice.
I was able to make a second-chance offer to the next-highest bidder, who happened to be in Spain. I had specified in the auction listing that I would only ship the item to a US address, but now, thanks to an unsavory bidder, I was no longer in control of the outcome. I could deal with sending the watch overseas, or start over with a relisted item. Fortunately, the second-chance bidder was very conscientious about answering my emails, and agreed to pay a higher shipping fee to cover the added costs and the extra time I would need to invest in completing the transaction.
It happened to be during my holiday break, so I had the time to go to the post office and wade through the confusing forms required to send a package overseas. If you're attempting to make a living selling stuff on eBay, you kind of have to be willing to deal with stuff like this, but if you're just trying to sell one or two items, it can be a hassle. You can always specify in your auction listing that potential buyers from outside the US have to contact you first to discuss whether or not you are willing to sell to them, and any additional shipping costs required to do so. Of course this is no guarantee, but chances are if someone is willing to take the time to email you, he or she is serious about purchasing your item.
This is something I found out during my next auction, which was for a pair of insulated boots that didn't bring in nearly as much as I expected. On the last day of the auction, I was contacted by a guy from Canada who was interested in bidding on them, but this time I had set up the auction so that people from outside the US could not even place a bid. I told him to go ahead and bid and we would work out the additional fees afterward if he won, but I forgot about the restriction I had set, plus the auction ended while I was on my way home from work that day, so I couldn't have changed it in time even if I had remembered.
Would he have been the winner? No way to know, but he almost certainly would have outbid the eventual winner at least once. Then, the person who did place the winning bid contacted me a week or so after I sent off the package to inform me that the postal service mishandled the package after I sent it, and it was at a dead mail recovery center (which was eerily similar to my own experience a few months back with a package sent to me that was mislabeled by the postal service with a zip code that was off by one digit, and spent the better part of two weeks ping-ponging between Albany and Springfield before finally making its way to me). I just checked the status of the package I sent, and it did finally reach its destination, a mere FOUR WEEKS after I sent it. Crap, I could have walked it there faster. I may have to think about getting a FedEx account or something...
With all sorts of horrible financial news assaulting us pretty much daily, I thought I would share a few tips on how I lead what I consider a comfortable lifestyle without overspending. I decided to break up the post into daily (sort of) bite-size pieces, and I'll post one every day this week.
Sell some stuff. I recently sold a couple of items on eBay, one of which was a vintage watch that brought in nearly $200. I then used that money, in the form of a PayPal balance, to buy other things. Some of it was stuff I needed, some was stuff I just wanted. Among other things, I got the DVD set of the first season of Mad Men, and a couple of new cashmere sweaters for $20 each.
One caveat about buying sweaters on eBay: a lot of people seem to have a tendency to put their sweaters on hangers, which is terrible, because it causes a sweater to stretch out of shape. A sweater should never be stored on a hanger. Sometimes they do this just to take the pictures, but you can bet sometimes it gets left on the hanger for weeks or months. If it's an extreme case, you may be able to tell just by looking at the photos, but if you think you might want to wear something to work or on any occasion when you want to look good, it might be worth your time to ask the seller how the sweater has been treated. Now, some people might say, "If you're only spending $20 what's the difference?" but it's your money, and a bargain isn't really a bargain if it's all stretched out and fits poorly and you end up not wearing it or having to give it away.
If you use PayPal to make a purchase there is no fee or service charge, but if you are the seller then PayPal does take a cut. Some people bristle at this, but it's a cost of doing business, just like stores and catalogs and online retailers have to pay a credit card processing fee. But the nice thing about having a PayPal balance is that you don't have to use it only on eBay. Many sites now accept PayPal as a form of payment, so if you've been a lucky seller you have some flexibility. I was able to use part of my PayPal balance to add an auxiliary hard drive to my TiVo, which roughly quadrupled its recording capacity. Just what he needs, you're thinking, and you're probably right, but it's too late.
One other thing about selling on eBay: be very specific about who can, or cannot, make a purchase from you. I learned this the hard way during my most recent couple of auction sales. The high bidder for the watch I sold had a perfect feedback rating, but after the auction ended and I didn't receive payment for a couple of days, I went and checked the buyer information and found that the person had shut down his/her eBay account and disappeared. Nice.
I was able to make a second-chance offer to the next-highest bidder, who happened to be in Spain. I had specified in the auction listing that I would only ship the item to a US address, but now, thanks to an unsavory bidder, I was no longer in control of the outcome. I could deal with sending the watch overseas, or start over with a relisted item. Fortunately, the second-chance bidder was very conscientious about answering my emails, and agreed to pay a higher shipping fee to cover the added costs and the extra time I would need to invest in completing the transaction.
It happened to be during my holiday break, so I had the time to go to the post office and wade through the confusing forms required to send a package overseas. If you're attempting to make a living selling stuff on eBay, you kind of have to be willing to deal with stuff like this, but if you're just trying to sell one or two items, it can be a hassle. You can always specify in your auction listing that potential buyers from outside the US have to contact you first to discuss whether or not you are willing to sell to them, and any additional shipping costs required to do so. Of course this is no guarantee, but chances are if someone is willing to take the time to email you, he or she is serious about purchasing your item.
This is something I found out during my next auction, which was for a pair of insulated boots that didn't bring in nearly as much as I expected. On the last day of the auction, I was contacted by a guy from Canada who was interested in bidding on them, but this time I had set up the auction so that people from outside the US could not even place a bid. I told him to go ahead and bid and we would work out the additional fees afterward if he won, but I forgot about the restriction I had set, plus the auction ended while I was on my way home from work that day, so I couldn't have changed it in time even if I had remembered.
Would he have been the winner? No way to know, but he almost certainly would have outbid the eventual winner at least once. Then, the person who did place the winning bid contacted me a week or so after I sent off the package to inform me that the postal service mishandled the package after I sent it, and it was at a dead mail recovery center (which was eerily similar to my own experience a few months back with a package sent to me that was mislabeled by the postal service with a zip code that was off by one digit, and spent the better part of two weeks ping-ponging between Albany and Springfield before finally making its way to me). I just checked the status of the package I sent, and it did finally reach its destination, a mere FOUR WEEKS after I sent it. Crap, I could have walked it there faster. I may have to think about getting a FedEx account or something...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
