- You are here:
- Home »
- Blog
Frugal Living Idea – Renting Vacation Housing Directly Through Owners with VRBO.com
My Personal Finance Journey Homepage
While I was reading these articles, I began to wonder just how much money could be saved in buying vacation rentals through this direct channel. This will be the topic of today’s posting. Let’s get started!
How do the prices compare between buying direct on VRBO.com and through normal channels?
To answer this question, let’s compare rates for like properties/lodging at two destinations that I have visited in the past 3 years or so: Snowshoe, WV and Panama City Bean, FL.
To simplify our search and ensure equal comparison, we will use the same range of dates for a week this coming August (August 16-23, 2010). Even though these dates may not be the peak travel times to either of the destinations, it will simplify our analysis.
For Snowshoe, WV, we will assume that we have our hearts set on staying at the Whislepunk Condos (right by the ski/mountain bike trails.
- Using VRBO.com, I found that the weekly rental rate for this time period at Whistlepunk is $744. See the link below for more details.
- Using Snowshoe Resort’s website, I found that the weekly rental rate for this time period for the same property is $1600. See the link below for more details.
- Whistlepunk 2 bdrm Condo – Snowshoe, WV Resort.com
For Panama City, FL, we will assume that we have our hearts set on staying at the Summit Condominium Resort, a mainstay for college spring breakers across the country. This resort is located right on the Gulf of Mexico, with great views of the waves.
- Using VRBO.com, I found that the weekly rental rate for a 1 bdrm condo unit at Summit Condos is $650. See link below for details.
- Using the Summit Condo’s regular website, I found that the weekly rental rate for the same time period is $775.
So, by the evidence found in the investigation above, we would have saved $850 and $125 by booking the Snowshoe and Panama City condos at VRBO.com, respectively.
While you may not always see results as dramatic as these, I think this clearly shows that I will seriously consider using VRBO.com next time I am needing to book housing for a trip.
How about you all? Have you had experience renting directly from owners for vacation housing? How did the price compare? Higher? Lower?
How was the overall experience?
My Personal Finance Journey
Learning for Life
Did you like this article? You can get the complete text of all the latest articles at My Personal Finance Journey in your email inbox each evening by clicking the link below and entering your email address. Your address will only be used for mailing you the articles, and each one will include a link so you can unsubscribe at any time.
Comparison of Online TV Show Options
My Personal Finance Journey Homepage
As is the case with many question in life, Google.com’s search engine is a good place to start finding answers to this question.
Online TV Options
- StreamDirectTV
- With StreamDirect, you pay a one time fee of ~$50, and you supposedly have access to 4100 channels available for live streaming/watching.
- However, I am skeptical of their service because they do not list the specific channels they offer that would be included in this 4100 group. Additionally, it does not say if you get continuous live streaming TV, or if they are just clips.
- I did a little search online to see if I could find what everyone else had to say about this service. The link to what I found is shown below.
- Review of StreamDirect
- In the comments below the blog posting, everyone seems to have had a pretty negative experience with this service. Therefore, it makes me want to steer clear.
- MyEasyTV
- This options is free.
- However, you are not able to actually stream the live feed from TV channels the way you would be able to if you were watching the station through your cable TV box.
- ChannelChooser
- This is my favorite online “TV” option.
- However, you are again restricted from watching the actual live channels, and can only view whatever clips are currently available.
- Hulu
- I placed Hulu in a class by itself because it takes a different approach to the idea of watching TV online.
- Instead of claiming to stream live TV channels online, the free service of Hulu aggregates links to popular TV show episodes already being published by the television channels.
- For example, I am a big fan of the TV series, Lost.
- At Hulu, I can click on the link of any of the episodes shown for Lost, and it will automatically redirect me to ABC’s website, where I can view the entire episode.
- Hulu Plus
- In addition the free service that Hulu offers (which is pretty extensive if I do say so myself), they have also started offerring a Plus service recently.
- Included in this Plus service is expanded access to current season TV show episodes and mobile device enabled plug-ins.
- Using the Lost series example above, the free Hulu service does not offer episodes 1-15 of Season 6 (current season at the time of this writing). I would imagine that these would be available within Hulu Plus.
- The cost of Hulu Plus is $10 per month.
- From my investigation, free online live-streaming TV did not seem to exist, except for short clips here and there.
- I did not get a chance to try out online streaming live TV that you pay for. Has anyone had success with that?
- Hulu is a great option to watch episodes of TV shows, but not live TV.
- Hulu plus would offer value to people who are looking to watch TV episodes using their mobile phones (iPhone, HTC Droid, etc).
How about you all? Do you use online TV show sites like Hulu.com? Do you pay for them or use the free versions?
Do you know of any other good online TV services that you can recommend?
My Personal Finance Journey
Learning for Life
Did you like this article? You can get the complete text of all the latest articles at My Personal Finance Journey in your email inbox each evening by clicking the link below and entering your email address. Your address will only be used for mailing you the articles, and each one will include a link so you can unsubscribe at any time.
Comparison of Blockbuster Online vs. Netflix DVD Rental Programs
Update on 18-July-2010 – It is also interesting to note that in an article on ChristinaPF.com about this same topic, the author ultimately decided to go with Netflix as well. See the following link for more details. ChristianPF.com – Netflix vs. Blockbuster Online
However, the decision to use Netflix didn’t come easy. When I first started out in the DVD-by-mail world, I subscribed to Blockbuster Online.
Therfore, in today’s post, I wanted to walk through a comparison of the two principle DVD-by-mail service providers so that you all can make an informed decision as to which best suits your needs.
Let’s get started!
The link below from Blockbuster.com gives a great overview/comparison of the features offerred by both Blockbuster and Netflix.
- Offers DVD’s either by mail only or a small alotment of monthly in-store exchanges.
- Able to return DVD’s by mail or at Blockbuster stores.
- Ships DVD’s by mail in ~1 business day.
- Able to download movies online for a rental charge.
- >95,000 movies and TV shows.
- Blue-Ray movies included in monthly rental subscription program FREE of charge.
- Pricing
- 1 DVD rental a time = $8.99 ($11.99 with 5 in-store exchanges)
- 2 DVD’s = $13.99 ($16.99 with 5 in-store exchanges)
-
DVD rental by mail only.
-
>95,000 movies
-
Ships DVD’s by mail in ~1 business day.
-
Blue-Ray movies not included in regular program. Additional $2 per month fee charged.
-
Able to stream good, new movies and TV episodes for free with your paid subscription on an unlimited basis using their online viewer.
-
Pricing
-
Same pricing as Blockbuster mail-only fees listed above.
-
No in-store exchanges.
-
Enjoy going out to a brick-and-mortar movie rental store and being able to physically look at all of the selections.
-
For me personally, I have very found memories of going to the movie store as a kid. It’s a fun activity, after all! But, that was before online movie rental became big!
-
Demand on viewing Blue-Ray versions of movies (since this is offerred at no extra charge with Blockbuster).
-
Click on the following link to check out Blockbuster’s website – Blockbuster Video
-
Enjoy watching a good variety of quality, new and vintage movies in regular DVD format.
-
Enjoy having a wide access to even more movies and TV episodes that you can stream instantly online.
-
This was the biggest selling point for me in my decision to go to Netflix. It is the same price as Blockbuster, but I am able to stream many shows and movies online. In fact, at home right now, I am watching Karate Kid II instantly!
-
Click on the Netflix image below to view a full listing of pricing and features (free trial also available).
How about you all? Do you use Netflix or Blockbuster? Which do you find is better suited to your needs?
My Personal Finance Journey
Learning for Life
To receive updates on topics such as this one as soon as they are published, click on the link below to subscribe to My Personal Finance Journey:
Podcast #2 – Building Your Cash Emergency Fund
My Personal Finance Journey Homepage
How about you all? How much of an emergency fund do you keep on hand? What type of an account do you save the money in?
My Personal Finance Journey
Learning for Life
To receive updates on topics such as this one as soon as they are published, click on the link below to subscribe to My Personal Finance Journey:
Should I Purchase Pet Health Insurance?
The story below came in from Jim, a subscriber of this blog, who also partcipates in dog fostering.
During a recent visit to the animal emergency hospital (the foster dog was having seizures), the doctor at the hospital informed Jim that it would be at least $2,000 – $4,000 just to stabilize and treat the dog’s condition.
Unfortunately, when the costs are this high to treat a dog’s condition, the question then becomes whether or not the dog should be euthanized. This is a very tough choice to make, especially since that magnitude of money can be used to save many other dogs out there that are being put to sleep each day in shelters around the country.
While dog owners can be argue that it is slightly easier to make this decision with rescue dogs that haven’t been in your family for years and years, it none-the-less got me thinking about the cost of pet health-care.
Previously on this blog, I have covered several aspects/issues involving ownership of dogs, cats, and pets in general. A summary of these topics and links to the articles I have written can be accessed below:
-
My Personal Finance Journey Pet-Related Articles
-
Pets becoming less of functional “tool” and more of a friend, companion, and part of the family.
-
Because of this deeper connection, pet owners are now more likely to fork over large portions of cash to keep their pet alive.
-
The rising cost of health care in general.
-
Even though there has been a lot of media coverage in recent years about the rising cost of health care and pharmaceuticals, I believe that people tend to forget that these costs have directly carried over to veterinarian clinics as well. In fact, if you look at the parent companies of most of the animal health products, they are the same companies that provide their products to humans.
- Non-lifetime coverage insures the pet for most conditions suffered by their pet during the course of a policy year but, on renewal in a following year, a condition that has been claimed for will be excluded.
- Lifetime coverage covers a pet for ongoing conditions throughout the pet’s lifetime so that, if a condition is claimed for in the first year, it will not be excluded in subsequent years.
- Dog
- Cat
- Birds and exotic pets
- Accidents
- Illnesses
- Lab tests
- Surgeries
- Cancer
- Hospitalization
- Major medical dog insurance policy
- Monthly premium
- $500 deductible, $22 premium
- $250 deductible, $27 premium
- $100 deductible, $31 premium
- Maximum yearly benefit = $14,000
- Routine care amendment to policy
- $22 extra per month. Wow!
- Category A –
- Are the type of person that will feel emotionally destroyed if your pet died from a medical condition that you could not afford to treat.
- Category B –
- Are the type of person that believes that pets should be loved while they are alive, but that if they get hurt, it is just their time.
If you fall in to Category B, I would say that should not buy pet insurance.
If you fall in to Category A, you should think about doing the following steps:
- Examine the list of costs for common health problems at the link below for your pet.
- If you cannot readily afford to pay the costs for severe problems that may come up (like a slipped spinal disc), you should purchase pet insurance.
What are the key things to watch out for?
My Current Asset Allocation and Net Worth Growth – July 2010
For me, July is a big month! It is my last month in the working world before going back to graduate school this coming fall. As such, I thought it would be fitting to include the cute school bus graphic above! Enjoy!
Let’s get started with the monthly review…
Net Worth Growth
From June 3rd (when the last portfolio update was published – see link below for more information) to July 12, the S&P 500 index went down 2%.
My Personal Finance Journey – June 2010 Portfolio and Net Worth
During that time period, my net worth increased 2.35%. While this is not stellar, it is beating the market!
Update on Financial Goals for 2010
I have now achieved the following financial goals in 2010:
- Achieved my short term target net worth for this year.
- Contributed the maximum contribution level of $5000 allowed for my Roth IRA for the year 2010 (and 2009 as well).
- Eliminated all significant holdings in individual stocks from my portfolios.
- Eliminated the actively managed Vanguard Short-Term Investment-Grade Fund (MUTF: VFSTX) and replaced it with the following short-term bond index fund – Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund (MUTF: VBISX).
- Have accumulated 100% of my cash target to go towards my down payment for a condo purchase at the end of this month.
- Downpayment funds have been transferred from my online high yield savings account to my checking account.
- Am under contract for a condo to purchase this fall and am on track to close end of July, 2010.
- Have obtained title and condo insurance for my condo purchase.
- Found an attorney to assist with my condo settlement and title insurance processing.
For a detailed list of my short term, mid term, and long term financial goals, click on the link below:
My Personal Finance Journey – Financial Goals
Review of Current Asset Allocation
- Overall Fixed Income / Equity Allocation
- Currently, 32% of my net worth is invested in fixed income instruments (cash or bond funds), and 68% is invested in equity.
- This is undoubtedly off of my targets of 25% and 75%, respectively, for these categories.
- The cash portion of my net worth has increased significantly since I am building up funds for a down payment for the condo I am purchasing at the end of this month.
- Equity Allocation
- In the equity portion of my portfolio, 71% is invested in US Domestic Equities with the remaining 29% being held in international equities. This is exactly in line with my equity breakdown targets of 71% and 29%, respectively, for US Domestic and international holdings.
While the overall percentages for these categories may not be ideal, a detailed look (table below) at the allocation breakdown reveals the real story and provides for better analysis of the current state.
Remember: a red flag goes off if your current % allocation in a category is greater than +/- 5% off of the target allocation. This is my trigger that I need to rebalance that aspect of my portfolio.
% Cash (money market target 5%) 17%
% non-inflat Bond Funds (target 15%) 15%
% TIPS Bonds (target 5%) 0%
% International Equity (Target 11%) 12%
% International Emerging Markets (Target 11%) 8%
% Domestic Large Cap (Target 8%) 16%
% Domestic Small Cap (Target 8%) 14%
% Domestic Small Cap Value (Target 14%) 7%
% Domestic Large Cap Value (Target 13%) 6%
% REIT (target 10%) 5%
- Cash –
- As I have mentioned several times, I expected that this would be high due to accumulating funds for a down payment.
- No action can be taken.
- TIPS Bonds –
- Since I have no extra cash right now (due to cash accumulation above), I cannot purchase this mutual fund due to Vanguard’s $3000 minimum purchase requirement.
- It is not available as an ETF with Vanguard either (I wish it was).
- Domestic Large Cap –
- Unfortunately, this is being held in my 401k account, and therefore, has a greatly reduced selection of index funds from which to choose.
- Because of this, the only options available to me are to exchange funds from this mutual fund to 1) an international equity fund, 2) a small cap index fund, or 3) a bond fund.
- Because I have 32% of my net worth currently held in fixed income instruments (and the stock market currently is going down anyways), I want to work towards decreasing my exposure to bond funds slightly.
- In order to improve my situation, I exchanged all of my 401k’s domestic large cap funds in to an international index mutual fund. While this is not ideal, I would prefer to have additional funds invested more aggressively internationally than in an S&P500 fund.
- Domestic Small Cap, REIT, & Domestic Small Cap Value –
- No action can be taken at this time due to tax consequences and insufficient funds stemming from my impending condo purchase.
- Domestic Large Cap Value –
- Since this is held in a taxable account, I cannot sell my holdings to exchange money to this mutual fund. I will have to wait until new funds can be added to increase the allocation %. However, I did add a large cap value ETF to my taxable Vanguard account that I can begin funding whenever I get additional money coming in. This is good news.
My next moves for the July/August 2010 time frame will be to do the following:
- Sign up for a biweekly home loan payment plan.
- Set up accounts for making home ownership automatic – automatic deductions for loan repayments, real estate taxes, maintenance reserve funds, insurance, etc.
- Open up a Traditional IRA / Rollover IRA to convert from my current employer’s 401k.
Wish List
Note: since most of my extra cash this month is being used to save for down payment, I will not have as much extra to play around with as normal – so these may or may not happen.
- Purchase an inflation adjusted bond mutual fund (TIPS)
- Begin contributing to the large-cap value funds in my taxable Vanguard mutual fund account.
- At some point, purchase the Vanguard Total Stock Mkt Idx (MUTF:VTSMX) to replace S&P 500 index fund. This gives better, broader diversification to the US stock market.
How about you all? How did you fare in the month of June/July in the stock market?
How often do you all create financial goals and track them? Monthly? 2X per year? 1X per year?
My Personal Finance Journey
Learning for Life
To receive updates on topics such as this one as soon as they are published, click on the link below to subscribe to My Personal Finance Journey:
Importing Products From China For Resale
My Personal Finance Journey Homepage
As you might have guessed by the name of his website, the topic of his post is learning importing wholesale products from China and selling them through various venues on the internet such as eBay®, Yahoo®, Amazon®, or Craigslist®.
I have to admit that I am/was very eager to have Corry do this guest post because this is one type of business that I know little-to-nothing about. Therefore, I am very interested to hear about anyone’s experiences with importing.
Let’s get started!
- DVDs
- DVD Players
- MP3 Players
- Televisions
- CDs
- Cell Phones
- Computers
How To Get Started
The first thing you have to do when importing products from China is find wholesale companies in China that are reliable and trustworthy. You can do this by using the list of companies provided on the Federation of International Trade Association’s website. All of these companies meet the standards and regulations of the FITA and are a great place to start.
Once you find a few companies you feel comfortable with, the next step is to contact these companies and request sample products to assure you are getting what you think you’re getting. This may cost some money, for things such as shipping and handling, but it is something you’re really going to want to do before you begin buying large quantities of any product.
Thanks for reading,
Corry
Excited to hear everyone’s take on this,
My Personal Finance Journey
Learning for Life
To become a guest-poster on My Money Blog, please send me an email at the address in the Contact Me page.
To receive updates on topics such as this one as soon as they are published, click on the link below to subscribe to My Personal Finance Journey:
What Taxes Do You Have To Pay on eBay and Amazon Sales?
In the past, I have featured several articles (shown below) about how to earn a side income selling items on eBay and/or Amazon.
- Comparison of Selling on eBay and Amazon
- Describes the postive and negative aspects of the selling experiences on Amazon and eBay (fees, customer service, user interface/features, etc).
- Unlock Extra Money Around Your House By Selling Your Unused Items on eBay
- Describes several simple steps you can take to ensure your items sell on eBay.
Overall, using the advice in these two articles can get you started and fairly proficient at selling items online.
However, several more advanced question topics were not answered in these posts.
For example, at what level of income from eBay/Amazon sales do you need to go “legit” and report your income to the government/pay taxes? When do you need to pay state-specific taxes?
These questions will be the subjects of today’s post. Let’s get started!
At what level of sales income do you have to report/pay taxes?
In my mind, there are really two categories you will fall in if you are selling items on eBay/Amazon – 1) you will be doing it as a home business and have a state sales tax ID number already (see previous post – My Personal Finance Journey – How to Start a Business – for more information) or 2) you will be doing it on the side, only selling items every-so-often throughout the year.
If you have a business selling items on eBay and/or Amazon…
If you fall in to this category, the rules are fairly easy.
As can be seen in the link below, you have to report your income / pay taxes if your net profits (so sales – all costs involved) exceed $400 per year. Pretty simple right?
SSA.gov – How Much Do You Have To Earn Before You Have To Pay Taxes If You Are Self-Employed?
If you are just selling items on the side, unofficially…
If you do not have an official business set up, are selling items on eBay/Amazon, and your earnings are slowly beginning to add up, it’s time think about if you need to report your earnings to the IRS.
However, when does it become mandatory? In other words, when do you risk being audited if you do not report that source of income? The answer to this is quite tricky.
Officially, the IRS’s rules are that any and all income, whether personal or business, should be reported as income. However, at what point does the amount of income hit the IRS’s radars?
After looking around on the internet, unfortunately, I have to report that I was not able to find a specific income level at the IRS will penalize you. This is probably due to the fact that they want all income to be reported.
The only guidance I could find was similar to that shown at the link below. Essentially, it states that if you conduct your selling similar to a business (i.e. if you spend signficant time and purchase items specifically for resale on eBay instead of using them yourself), you should report your earnings.
Taxes and eBay Sales – eBay.com
I think this approach does make a lot of sense. For example, back in 2006, I was actively purchasing items from distributors, retailers, and 2nd hand stores only to resell on eBay. It is plainly obvious that this would be a case where you cannot hide the fact that you are making money from eBay. Therefore, I reported my earnings are self-employment income.
Even though I did not find this to be official guidance listed in any source documentation, another thing to think about relates to the amount of the standard deduction and personal exemptions you are allowed to file on your taxes.
For example, if you are single and not listed as a dependent on someone else’s taxes, you get the standard deduction ($5,700) plus your exemption ($3650). This means that you pay no tax on the first $9350 that you make.
What does this mean for eBay/Amazon sellers? It means that your probability of flying under the IRS’s radar increases if your income from your sales is lower than these levels (However, still not totally advisable to do this practice).
When do you have to pay state sales tax?
The answer to this question is much more straight forward, fortunately.
You only have to pay state sales taxes whenever you sell/ship an item to someone in the same state as you.
Proof of this can be seen in looking at a product by any top rated Powerseller on eBay. For example, let’s look at the one I picked at random – BananaRoad, at the link below.
Top Rated eBay Seller – BananaRoad
If you click on one of his/her items and look at the shipping specifics, you can see that the “Seller charges sales tax for items shipped to: OH (6.75%).” What this means is that BananaRoad’s business is based in Ohio, and therefore, has to pay Ohio state sales tax for items bought by people in the same state.
I hope this article clarifies some of the confusion that can result from online selling and gets you thinking about if you need to change your method of tax operations going forward.
Thanks for reading!
How about you all out there? How do you all handle sales on eBay/Amazon and paying taxes? Do you sell items on eBay as a business or just a hobby?
Podcast #1 – Account Hierarchy and the Correct Way to Prioritize the Use of Your Funds
by Susannah Gardner and came across the idea of using Podcasts as a way for blog readers to have access to important content in an audio or video fashion.- They are FREE for readers to listen to.
- They can be downloaded in mp3 format and played on any iPod or mp3 player.
- They can be listened to when readers do not have access to a computer (i.e. while riding in a train or car).
Learning for Life
To receive updates on topics such as this one as soon as they are published, click on the link below to subscribe to My Personal Finance Journey:
Celebrating 6 Months of Blogging – Top 10 Reader Rated Posts
- ~40 email subscribers to my RSS Feedburner feed, making you all able to read posts directly from your email.
- A total of >8200 total visitors to the site, from all around the world.
- 4 regular guest posters/writers.
- 181 financial-related post categories
-
158 total posts
Compares how grocery prices differ between Aldi, Wal-Mart, and other national chains. It just may influence you to stop by Aldi next time you are out looking for groceries!
Compares how my housing, grocery, and utilities expenses compare between the different places I have lived in the past year.
8. Does Phil Town’s Rule Number 1 – 15 min a Week Stock Trading System Work?
Find the truth about if Phil Town’s foolproof stock trading system works. A quick review of my experience having tried it for 6 months.
Describes step 3 of constructing your personalized investment strategy by walking you through the steps in choosing which specific bond (fixed income) securities you should buy.
6. My Current Asset Allocation and Net Worth Growth – June 2010
The June roll-up of my net worth growth and goals for the month.
5. Index ETFs vs. Index Mutual Funds – Which Are Better?
Compares the +’s and -‘s of ETF’s and index mutual funds. Shows a comparison of fees and performance.
4. How to Get a Job After College – Part 1 – Creating a Resume and Cover Letter
Describes the crucial first step towards landing a job after college – creating a resume. Involves a description of real-world advice based on my experiences in the past 3 years.
3. Favorite Cash-Back Credit Cards
Describes my two favorite cash-back credit cards: one that I use for all of my gas purchases and another one for all other purchases.
2. Save Yourself 50% On Your Monthly Bills With a 5 Minute Phone Call
Learn how you can cut your monthly bills by simply asking for a discount or a lower rate.
1. What Percentage of My Donation Goes to Funding Operating Expenses of the Charitable Organization?
Take a journey with me as I investigate how much of your contribution money goes to non-charitable (salaries, admin, etc) expenses in non-profit organizations.
How about you all? Which posts during the last 6 months have been your favorite? What types of topics/posts would you like to see in the future?
Do you have any ideas on how I can make this blog better?
My Personal Finance Journey
Learning for Life
To receive updates on topics such as this one as soon as they are published, click on the link below to subscribe to My Personal Finance Journey: