Cash The Checks

When I’m looking for some sort of electronic goodie, I want to get the best price for it. But I’m not just thinking about getting a good deal so I can save a few books. I always sell my “toys” when I don’t want them anymore. So I always try to buy low and sell high. I’ve done it so much that I’ve almost perfected the art.

Here’s an example of one of my most recent transactions. I purchased a digital video camera about a year ago. It’s a very nice camcorder, worked great. As time goes by, of course technologies improve, and now they have HD camcorders instead of using MiniDV tapes. Well I wanted to upgrade, so first I have to sell my old camcorder.

When I first bought it I remember it got it brand new from some store, got a mail-in rebate for it. The item wasn’t the latest greatest item. In fact it wasn’t even available at major stores like Circuit City or Sears. It wasn’t hte latest model but it was fairly new. Prices drop drastically on items when they’re no longer “new”. The big stores end up selling these items at a discounted price to smaller electronic shops, who then pass on the savings to consumers like me.

Now that I want to upgrade it’s time to sell it. A few of the things I’ve done is take very good care of the camera. It literally had no scratches on it, no wear and tear, so it can be considered as “like new” even though I’ve used it sparingly for a whole year. I also kept the original box, making sure not to tear any of the packaging. If I wasn’t going to use an accessory I made sure to leave it the original bag. For example this camcorder came with a remote control and a shoulder strap that I never used.

I logged into my ebay account and took literally 20+ pictures of the item in every possible angle and was very up front about the history of the item. People seemed to like the honesty of the auction and within 12 hours I already had a few questions about it and somebody used Buy It Now and nabbed it.

The way I see it, I only “rented” this camcorder, I bought it at a low price, sold it at a high price. So if I bought it at $400 and sold it for $350, I paid $50 for a whole years worth of a camcorder. That’s only about $1 a week, can’t beat that price.

I’ve been looking for a good cash deposit box lately. I’ve gone to the usual stores like Staples, Office Depot, Office Max, etc, but I’m not seeing exactly what I’m looking for. They have these plastic looking things with more slots for change than for bills. I’ve also seen some heavy duty fire proof ones from Brinks Security.

It’s just that I’m not really looking for a cash register, I just want a box with some slots for bills, to facilitate keeping track of my savings. Of course something with a bit of security would be nice. Maybe something with a security code in it, something fireproof, something heavy, and small enough to fit in a wall or something.
Perhaps the problem is I’m not sure I myself know what I want. What I do know is that I’ll know it when I see it.

Isn’t the $10 the best looking bill out there? It’s new, the new $10 bills have a reddish tint to them. They’re pretty rare too. I see 1s, 5s, 20s and 100s all the time. But the 10s and 50s are becoming a rarity. It’s common to pay with a $20 bill and if the change is $11+ you’ll get two 5’s and a 1, not a 10 and a 1.

For the last 2 years I’ve saved each and every 10 dollar bill I’ve had the luck of coming across. It started as an idea to save money. I’ll save my 10 dollar bills and spend everything else. Now it’s a hobby more than a savings gimmick.

You don’t always need to have property or collateral to get mortgage. You can consider consolidation loan as all-in-one option covering all of your financial needs. If you have good credit history proven in an authentic credit report, you might also get a credit loan . It will prevent you from getting stuck in a revolving debt cycle caused by financial decisions like home mortgage refinancing . Now, online credit card payment processing offered by financial and insurance companies has enabled online payments for health insurance through credit card.

Today I may have very well coined a new phrase: “power-working”. I’m not sure if I’ve heard it somewhere else before. It’s sort of like power walking. Working, on steroids, per se. Here are the keys to power working.

1. Be motivated, have a dream or a goal in mind, whether short-term or long term.

2. Be extremely well rested and ready to put in a good 3-4 hours of non-stop work.

3. Sit comfortably in an air conditioned room, put some music on, limit your distractions.

4. Have a drink with you, preferrably something with sugar, like an Arizona Iced Tea, something that gives you energy.

It seems like every time I get anything from my 21st Century car insurance company, they send me a flyer advertising their $50 per referral offer. It’s not $50 off from your 6 month premium, or a $50 rebate check. Instead it’s a $50 cash card to a few stores. So 21st Century isn’t actually losing 50 bucks since they probably have deals with those companies.

Usually when you have a gift card for $50 you’ll spend more than $50 and will probably return to the store if you’re satisfied with the products and the prices you received. It seems like a win-win deal for everyone involved.

I still think that $50 is far too little though. I’ve only been a member of 21st Century for a bit over a year, but I plan on staying with them for many more years, maybe even forever. I’m sure people have stuck with the same car insurance company for decades. When you take that into consideration, $50 for a new customer at an auto insurance agency is practically nothing. I spend about $1,200 a year in car insurance and I’m sure others spend a whole lot more.

While it may seem unfair, $50 is better than nothing.. and if you want to invite someone to your car insurance company, you might as well get some of that referral money. A little extra cash never hurt anyone.

I logged into my ING Savings Account today just to see the interest I’ve earned. To my surprise I saw my rate had gone up from 4.25% to 4.35%. This means if you put in 10,000 @ 4.25%, after 1 year you earn $425. Now with this new interest rate, you would earn $435. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a darn good rate for a savings account.

Now if only they had raised their CD accounts. I’m still seeing a 12 month CD at 5.25%. I might open an account one of these days…

I’ve been playing Black Jack at Party Poker a few days now, and to my surprise I’m actually winning. With the $100 I started with, I’m now up to $175.50 and I’ve only played for just under 2 hours total.

I only play in stretches of 10-20 minutes at a time. That way, I’m only playing around with my profits, and I don’t stick around long enough to get on a losing streak.

Considering the $75.50 earned in 2 hours, that’s $37.75 per hour. After probably about 20 hours I’ll be able to get a better idea of just how much money per hour can be earned with this “profession”. I think I’ll start an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of things..

I thought Party Poker only offered poker. You know, Texas Hold ‘Em or Omaha, but they have Black Jack too. Last year I tried out playing Limit Texas Hold ‘Em, at the $1/$2 tables. I barely broke even so I gave that up until my poker playing skills got better.

Today I tried out playing Black Jack at Party Poker. I always like to start out with a little bit of money, betting small amounts, just to get a feel for the game. If I’m successful then I work my way up.

I deposited $100 and I also used a bonus code, PC25, which gave me an extra $100. I could have used bonus code PC100 and that would give me 20% extra. Meaning if I was to deposit $500 Party Poker would give me an extra $100 to play with.

I played only about 10 hands and I was quickly up $40, then I just stopped playing while I was ahead.  Who knows what the future will hold in regards to me and BlackJack, but if I can manage to make $20 per hour playing Black Jack, that’s not a bad work-at-home opportunity for me.
Remember, it’s not considered gambling if you always win..

Lets say you have a home office, but you’re not declaring a home office on your taxes, just because of the extra form you have to fill out and because of the added attention it may bring. Can you still put the electricity bill (or a percentage of the electricity bill) as a deduction on your income tax return? I don’t know why I’m thinking about it now, as it’s not tax time, but what a headache.

I’m beginning to think we’d all be better off if we just had a flat tax. Just add a federal income tax on all the goods and services we purchase, and eliminate income taxes. Just imagine how much easier that would be - and no more complicated tax forms. In fact, no more IRS either, no more audits. The only bad part is - no more IRS jokes.

I guess you when you hardly use your credit card, it’s insane to think your credit card company will raise your credit limit. While I’m certainly not interested in spending enough money to get to my credit limit, it sure would be nice knowing I could spend a lot more on my credit card without having to worry about ever reaching the limit. Currently, my Capital One Visa credit card is at $7,500. Since I’ve been trying to get into the “plastic world” and use my card more often, I’m hoping to get it automatically raised to $10,000 by the end of the year.

I have no doubt I could get it raised if I called their customer service, but it’s not extremely important and I’d rather let it take on a natural course. You never really know when you might have an emergency though, so having a large credit limit can have it’s advantages, especially when you’re in the need for some extra cash and the loan process is taking too long. I guess in a worst case scenario, “Check Into Cash” would be another alternative. Who knows, maybe I’ll get to meet Gary Coleman.

In a continued effort to try to raise my credit score, I’ve switched a monthly automatic debit charge (cable bill) that used to be debited from my bank account to my credit card now. This’ll increase my monthly charges on my card even more. It’s still nowhere near the heights I want to be at, but it’s a start.

It was always a hassle to make sure that specific bank account had enough funds to pay the cable bill every month. Now with the credit card I’ve eliminated yet another hassle from my life and can increase my credit score all at the same time. And as I’m sure you’re aware, time is money.

All of these are just small steps I have been taking and will continue to take, to lead to a better, stable and a more secure financial future.

Are you finding yourself short of money at the end of each month? Solve potential money problems with a cheap credit card, short term loan or a flexible loan, whichever is the best for your money needs, and relax!