Remember remember the 5th of November

Nov 4, 2011 by Ben

The time has come.

Being complacent is no longer an option.

Convenience is no longer a valid excuse.

It’s time to take action.

Are you upset at our current economic situation and want to do something about it?

Do you wan to support the Occupy Wall Street movement but don’t have time to camp out?

Do you not care about any of this?

Either way, you should move your money out of the big banks and put it in your local credit union.  It just makes sense.   The big banks don’t offer you anything that you can’t get from your local credit union.  And you won’t pay anything for it.  In fact you will actually make interest on them holding your money.  Strange concept, the banks giving you interest on YOUR money, I know.

Why are you giving your money to large corporations when you could be giving it to a local company that YOU own and that pays YOU with its profits?  Seriously, why would you?

I already moved my money into a credit union before I heard about the National Move Your Money Day on November 5th, but thats OK, you can do it anytime.  Just do it.  And here is how get started:

Step 1: Find a local credit union and open an account.

Step 2: Request your new debit card and order new checks (if you still use checks)

Step 3: Re-route your direct deposit from your employer (if needed)

Step 4: If you have any bills auto-paid from your old checking account, get them set up from your new account. Or you can stop paying bills and make money while doing it.

Step 5: Close your old bank account.

 

When you close your old account I first recommend electronically transferring most of your money out of your old bank account directly into your credit union and leaving just a little bit in there to close out to avoid any trouble.

Also be kind and courteous to the clerk when they ask you why you are closing your account.  Simply smile and tell them that you don’t need to pay them to hold your money when you don’t have to.

Then smile, walk out, and hold your head high knowing that you have made a great decision that will help support your local community and save you money.  And tell your friends about it too.  Spread the word.  Tell them that you have joined the over 650,000 that have joined a credit union in the last month (which is more than all of 2010!)

Its time to make some wise decisions about how you vote with your wallet.  Take action now. 

Ben…

If you switched to a local bank or credit union, let me know in the comments.

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Free money part 2

Mar 24, 2011 by Ben

This is the second post in my Free Money series

I just received my second check of the year from my REI Visa card and it was a whopper!  Over $650 bucks in free money to spend at REI on whatever I want (or I can just get the cash back).   I love REI and I love all the fun toys for great outdoor adventures so its not a problem to find fun things to buy.  Also this weekend is their used gear sale and that’s where I get some awesome deals on gear, so its all good.

I get this free money by automating my finances, and paying whatever bills I can with my visa and then paying the Visa bill off each month.

DO NOT DO THIS IF YOU DON’T PAY YOUR CREDIT CARD BILL OFF EACH MONTH!!!!

Sorry for yelling, but if you have debt on your credit cards, pay that off first.  There is no point in racking up more debt and more interest on that debt.

But if you are good and pay your bills each month in full, why bother with the hassle of actually paying your bills each month. Set them on autopilot.

This post, shows you how to do that.

Then just sit back and have fun spending some free money each year.

Ben…

 

 

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Free money time of year

Feb 22, 2011 by Ben

I almost forgot that it was that time of year again.

Every year around late February or early March I get free money in the mail.  Today I got one of two checks that I get every year for doing absolutely nothing.  I do no extra work for these checks.  They just show up each year.   How do I do this?

This goes back to my Paying bills sucks… stop doing it post.  On that post I give you the simple 3 step process on how I do this.

The gist of it is simply get a credit card that pays you dividends or a percentage of what you put on the card each year.  I do this with an Amex card I use for eating out, travel and gas at Costco as I get 3%, 5%, and 2% respectfully on those things and 1% back on everything else I put on that card.

Then I also use my REI Visa card for everything else.   If you love outdoors gear I highly recommend this card.  Sign up for this card and if you use my REI member number you’ll get an extra $20 gift card from REI.  My REI number is: 03206230

If you haven’t read the Paying bills sucks… stop doing it post, I recommend it.  It lays out the instructions on how to do this and what to avoid.

Ben…

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How I made $1350 by asking for it

Nov 1, 2010 by Ben

How’s that for a spam-alicious title huh?

Don’t worry, this isn’t a money making get rich scheme.  Its a stop wasting your money scheme.

Stop wasting your money buying cheap crap that you throw away when it inevitably breaks (because its cheap!).

I’m very guilty of this habit.  I buy cheap crap because its on sale (who doesn’t love a sale?) and then it breaks an hour/day/week later and I’m pissed and it ends up in the trash.   This is a horrible cycle that not only wastes my money on the cheap product but on the manufacturing of said product in who knows what country, with who knows what quality of materials etc and then of course sits in our landfills.

That all said, I’m trying to buy better quality products that are made by companies I want to support because of how they both make their products and stand behind them.

So here’s what happened recently and how I made all that money.

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Cutting the (phone) cord.

May 28, 2010 by Ben

Do you have a cell phone?  Probably.

Does everyone in your family have a cell phone?  Probably.

Do you still have a home phone line too? Why?

I finally got rid of my landline phone when I realized I would never answer it because I knew it was a telemarketer.   I looked into VOIP alternatives to keep the homephone, but not pay the monthly bill.  I read some good reviews on Ooma (affiliate link) and almost bought it, but instead I just canceled my service and put all the phones in the closet.  And you know what?  I don’t miss it.  At all.

If you still have a homeline, ask yourself, “Do I need this?  Do I use this?”  PBS has a great article on some other VOIP alternatives, but think about it.  You may not even need a home phone at all.  Cancel the service and save yourself some money.

Ben…

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