Category — Frugality

A few days ago I posted an article called Going to School Pays Off. I talked about what people at certain education levels can expect to earn throughout their lives. It really made me wonder what the opportunity cost was of going to school for 12 years.

Opportunity cost is is the cost of something in terms of an opportunity forgone (and the benefits that could be received from that opportunity), or the most valuable forgone alternative, i.e. the second best alternative. For example, if a city decides to build a hospital on vacant land that it owns, the opportunity cost is some other thing that might have been done with the land and construction funds instead. In building the hospital, the city has forgone the opportunity to build a sporting center on that land, or a parking lot, or the ability to sell the land to reduce the city’s debt, and so on. – Wikipedia

Around here a high school graduate with no degree can earn around $7.00 per hour without trying too hard. So let’s create a basic scenario. We have 2 guys. One graduates high school at the top of his class, goes on to a prestigious college, then goes on to medical school, graduates and makes it to his residency and his fellowship and is a full fledged medical doctor after 12 years. Guy number 2 graduates high school and goes on to get a job at your favorite fast food chain making $7.00 per hour. [Read more →]

Thanksgiving is over and so is the day after Thanksgiving, the biggest [tag]shopping[/tag] day of the year. I’m sure that many of you were up and waiting in line at 4am at the stores with the best deals. Personally, I was lined up at 11:45 the night before…yea maybe I’m crazy. If you’re a big [tag]electronics[/tag] shopper like me, you probably ended up with more [tag]mail-in rebates[/tag] than you can shake a stick at. I’m sure that you have every intention of sending those [tag]rebates[/tag] in, but the manufactures are hoping that you won’t. In fact, the Wall Street Journal says that up to 95% of shoppers forget to claim their [tag]rebate[/tag].

Eric Bernatchez at About.com has a great article on mail-in rebates. While this article is focused on cell phone rebates, it applies to just about any product.

According to Eric, manufacturers have good reasons to offer rebates:

• They expect you to forget about the rebate
• They make the process very complex in order to discourage you from applying for the rebate
• They actually make more money since most people will not ever get their rebate

But he offers some great tips on how to beat the system:

• At the store, ask for an extra copy of the rebate form
• Make sure there is a 1-800 number to call if you need assistance
• Make copies of everything before and after you fill it out
• Use a service such as memotome.com to remind you when you should receive the rebate

As a big rebate shopper I can attest to all of those points. I love the [tag]deals[/tag] you get with rebates, but I hate using them. If you are in the same boat I am, then make it as easy as possible on yourself this year – stay organized and make copies of everything!

Are you a big rebate shopper? Do you have any rebate horror stories?

With the holidays fast approaching I thought it would be a good time to look at gift giving in a financially smart way. Many people spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars on Christmas gifts. Once you buy for the family, your friends, your coworkers, and your boss you’re probably about broke. Well here are my top 6 ideas to help you save some cash over the next couple of months.

1. Recycle gifts – Have several ‘Dirty Santa’ parties to go to? Take the gift that you received at one to the next party.
2. Draw names – Instead of buying for all 44 of your relatives, try getting the family to draw names. Instead of buying for dozens of people, you only have to buy for a few.
3. Hit the sales – This is sort of a ‘no brainer’ but look for Christmas sales. If you don’t mind getting up at 4am, there are always incredible sales the day after Thanksgiving. Or, for the smaller presents, you can usually find Christmas baskets and other small gifts on sale somewhere as December 25th draws near. [Read more →]