My Personal Finance Journey

Category Archives for Saving Money & Frugal Living

Pros and Cons of Taking the Bus Versus Driving

The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Shondell of Call Me What You Want Even Cheap. At her site, she blogs about her recent car loan, mortgage pay off, and a whole bunch more. Check out her blog right here!

 Given a choice, most people probably would drive rather than take the bus. Driving provides easy mobility and the flexibility to go anywhere the road goes. However, there is no such thing as a free meal, and driving comes with its own set of problems. Taking the bus, on the other hand, limits your mobility to the bus and presents you with other problems such as overcrowding. But, it has its pros too, such as lower cost and reduced stress in a traffic jam.

So, here are the arguments for and against both driving and taking the bus. Let’s start with driving first.

The pros of driving:

  • Ease of mobility: Driving your own car, you can go wherever you want as long as the place is accessible by road. You can drive hundreds of miles without having to get off.
  • Comfort: The comfort provided by the beautiful, cozy and air-conditioned interior of your car is unmatched by any bus seat. There can simply be no comparison. You can even rest and sleep in your car when you are tired. I don`t know if I would sleep on a bus.
  • Convenience: You don’t have to wait for any schedule, you can drive your car anytime you like. You can also stash all your stuff in your car trunk and leave it there until you feel like taking it out. Try doing that on a bus!
  • Personal security: As long as you drive safely, you are safer in your own car than in a bus where you are an easy target for people trying to rob you or harm you.
  • Privacy: The privacy you get in your car is comparable to the privacy you get in your own home. You can talk and sing to yourself without the risk of people staring at you.

 

The cons of driving:

  • Car insurance: You have to buy insurance for your car every year, and it can make quite a dent in your budget. If you have multiple cars, then car insurance can really take the fun out of driving when the time comes to buy insurance.
  • Repair and maintenance: Your car is a machine, and it can’t run without regular maintenance. The annual cost of servicing, repair, and maintenance can be quite high depending on the type of your car and how you drive.
  • Higher cost: Although gas is not as expensive in the US as in many other countries, your car can consume a lot of fuel if you have to drive long distances regularly.
  • Stress in traffic: Driving can be highly stressful when you are stuck in a traffic jam, which is a fact of life in cities, especially during rush hour. Driving-related stresses can cause heart diseases and psychological problems.

 

The pros of taking the bus:

  • Free to do other things: Since your hands and feet are not occupied, you are free to read a book, type a text message, watch the passing scenery or close your eyes and sleep.
  • Meet interesting people: Since thousands of people take the bus daily, you will get the opportunity to meet interesting people. If you don’t mind talking to strangers, then you can even strike up a friendship with some of them.
  • Less costly: Since you don’t have to pay for insurance, car repairs and maintenance, taking the bus is a lot less costly than driving your own car.
  • Less stressful: Since you are not in charge, taking the bus is infinitely less stressful in a traffic jam. In fact, you can look out of the window and amuse yourself by watching a sea of cars stuck in traffic

 

The cons of taking the bus:

  • Lack of privacy: With so many people sharing a confined space, and some of them actually staring at you, you have no privacy on a bus. You cannot talk or hum to yourself without attracting several pairs of curious and disapproving eyes.
  • Reduced personal security: If anyone wants to harm you, then a bus provides an easy setting. I have heard of many situations where people were attacked on a bus.
  • Chances of theft and robbery: A lot of theft and robbery take place on moving buses. If you are not careful, you can easily become a victim.
  • Racial/Sexual harassment: If you are a woman or belong to a minority ethnic group, you may become the victim of sexual or racial harassment on a bus. Starting with verbal abuse, the harassment can often take the form of physical abuse.

Most people who own cars choose to drive whenever they feel like it. It`s convenient, often reliable, and for the most part, safe. I know many people who would never be seen taking the bus. I have done both and can appreciate the good and bad in both.

How about you all? Which do you prefer – taking the bus or driving? Why do you choose one over the other?

 Share your experiences by commenting below!

The Dangers of Lifestyle Inflation

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The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Kelly Gurnett. Kelly runs the blog Cordelia Calls It Quits, where she documents her attempts to rid her life of the things that don’t matter and focus more on the things that do. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Have you ever wondered why, no matter what you manage to accomplish financially, you can never seem to “get ahead”?

You could get a raise, pay down a debt, receive a sudden windfall, but it never seems to make a difference in the grand scheme of things. No matter how much better off you are than you were a few years ago, it never feels like you’re better off. You keep finding yourself waiting for that hazy time in the future when you finally feel like you’ve “made it.”

Well, I’ve got some unfortunate news for you: you’re never going to “make it,” at least not as long as you define “making it” as reaching some perfect point when you have more—more money, more luxury, more stuff that will finally make you perfectly satisfied.

Because it’s that “more” mentality that will keep you from ever reaching that point. It’s a mentality leads to a phenomenon known as lifestyle inflation, and many of your friends and neighbors have succumbed to it.

Have you?

Forget Keeping Up with the Joneses

Lifestyle inflation is more like keeping up with yourself—with the idea in your head of a future self who will be wealthier, savvier, cooler, than the you of today is. You always feel like there’s more out there, and you know that if you can just get it, then you’ll be happy. So as soon as you find yourself with a little extra money in hand, you’re off like a shot chasing that goal.

The thing is, like the proverbial carrot on a string, that goal will always be one step ahead of you. Because no matter how much your standard of living improves, it can always be better. And constantly using all your resources to chase that never-ending goal will only make you less happy in the long run.

When you were in college, scraping by on Raman noodles and stale cafeteria coffee, getting together a few extra bucks to see a concert feels like a real treat, even if you have to cram into a junker car with six of your friends to get there. Then you become a member of the full-time working class, and suddenly a shoestring concert seems like nothing. Now you can afford concerts, concert merchandise, occasional road trips to out-of-town concerts, etc…You’re bringing in real money now, and you can start living a little. So you do.

Except the thrill of a snazzier concert experience fades after a while, and then you’re left envying your friends who are starting to go on week long vacations to sandy, sun-dipped locales. Some day, you think, when I get that promotion, I’m booking my own Caribbean vacation! And why not? You’ll have worked hard to get to that point, so why shouldn’t you enjoy the fruits of your labor?

The problem is that, as your standard of living increases with each pay increase, your sense of enjoyment fails to increase along with it. You might feel momentarily happier as you adjust to your new, cushier lifestyle, but it won’t last. New things and new experiences get tired quickly, and eventually you’re back to barely getting the bills paid, staring at your sad savings account, and wondering how anyone ever manages to put aside for retirement.

Because that’s the other problem with lifestyle inflation: not only does it ultimately fail to make you happy; it also keeps you from ever reaching a place of financial security and freedom. Because when every spare dollar is being put towards chasing that end of the rainbow, none of it is being put aside for the future.

What’s a Dreamer to Do?

The temptation to live larger as your paycheck grows is only natural. Our culture is saturated with images of celebrities and strangers on TV commercials living the high life and loving the heck out of it, so we can’t help but feel like if we can only get to where they are, we’ll be truly happy, too.

But if you really want to achieve happiness with your money, the secret is in finding a sense of balance.

By all means, enjoy an extra dinner out or take that sunny vacation if you can afford it now. You have worked hard for your money, and you certainly deserve to enjoy it. But at the same time, make sure you’re also putting aside a healthy amount towards an emergency fund, your kids’ education, and whatever other savings goals you have.

By using your money smartly, you can still enjoy the occasional live-it-up splurge without sacrificing your future financial happiness and security. Plus, if you treat yourself strategically instead of maxing out your lifestyle every time you get a raise, those treats are more likely to leave you feeling satisfied, pampered, and truly “rich.”

How about you all? Have you been tempted by lifestyle inflation? 

 How have you dealt with it?


Share your experiences by commenting below!

***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/94328679@N03/8585451509/

Budget and the Beast – Can They Really Work Together?

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Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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The following is a guest post by fellow blog reader, Mr.CBB, who is the voice behind Canadian Budget Binder. His motto is that, “It’s not about how much money you make, it’s how you save it.”  

Mr.CBB shares budgeting tips, frugal lifestyle, relationships, recipes, parenting, personal finance and so much more for his over 4500 fans all around the world. After all “money is money, debt is debt” no matter where you live. Come join him on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Enjoy!
Putting a budget together for us was the easy part, but the beast not so much. The beast, in this case, is our personal finances, so in other words, the money. Can we really make a budget work with the money that we bring in each month?
As a newly married couple going back a few years now we hadn’t really thought about using a budget. We didn’t have much debt except for paying our every day expenses. It’s not like we have never had debt in our lives, we just never felt the need to track it because we thought we were so good with money. That was our first mistake.

A Budget Is Not For Everyone 

That’s right, and I used to think I didn’t need a budget because I could tally up all the people I owed money to in my head. Heck, it was simple to save money as long as I spent less than I earned, so who needs a budget?
I needed a budget, that’s who, and shortly after getting married, we knew we would have to put a budget together. We not only had a mortgage and bills to worry about together as a married couple, but we also had 2 incomes and plenty more responsibility than when we rented.

Living in the UK

When I lived in the UK, I owned my first house (which was a flat) at the age of 21. What I bought was not a house, rather, it was comparable to a condo or a fancy apartment.
It wasn’t a million dollar mansion, but it was my little kingdom and I owned it. I didn’t need to have 3 bathrooms and a kitchen fit for a king. If the flat had four walls, a proper kitchen, running water, and a toilet that flushed, I was chuffed.
From there, I sold my flat and bought a 600sq ft house. Now, I know you are thinking it was small, and it was, but it was perfect for me. Considering the cost of real estate in the UK (which is very pricey in some areas), I didn’t think I did too badly.
When I moved to Canada, I don’t think I was prepared for all the expenses that were coming my way with new laws and regulations, taxes, insurances, and home repairs. There are many things about housing in Canada that differ from the UK, and I needed to get up to speed.

Dreams

I’ve always believed that if you have an opportunity to do what you love, don’t give up on your dream. My dream was to go back to school to learn something new, and I did just that, as scary as it was for me.
When it came time to buy our house (after much deliberation of whether we should rent or buy a house), it meant we needed to work together to get our finances on track and the money working for us.

Paying Off the Mortgage

Not only did we want to design our own budget, but we wanted to kill our mortgage as fast as we could. We saved for a nice down payment on our Canadian home, which gave us a head start in the mortgage payoff game.
We are both demons when it comes to owing people money even if it is just the mortgage. We’d rather work hard, play tough, and reap the rewards along the way. The budget was set up to help us speed up the mortgage pay-off process.

Tracking Expenses

No more guessing how much money we had left or scribbling notes on paper. Instead, we designed our own 10 step budgeting series and budget spreadsheet. When we bought our house, we paid $265,000, which left us with a mortgage of $185,000 to pay off.

Mortgage Freedom 

It may not sound like a lot, especially with today’s low interest rates, but you can imagine how much money in interest we are paying. That was enough for us to get serious about our mortgage.
This was a huge debt for us, so we worked hard to save as much as we could to balance the budget and pay extra pre-payments on the mortgage. We have also been investing in our retirement funds along the way.
Sure, we haven’t invested to the max, but now that it’s 2013 and only 4 years since we bought our house, we will be mortgage free hopefully by June. That’s the plan at least for now, which leaves us plenty of time to put money into our RRSP’s and other investments.
Some people have their own reservations about paying the mortgage off and would rather invest, but I say just do what feels right. A friend of mine always reminds me to make sure that I diversify my portfolio, so that is the plan.

How the Budget Helped Our Mortgage

Knowing where our money is going each month and how much we can spend to reach our goals has helped us to save more money. Make informed decisions and talk to a personal finance advisor for help if you need guidance.

So, can the budget and the beast work together?

You bet they can, and here are my tips on how to make the budget and the beast work for you like it has for us.
  • You need to get organized
  • You need to commit to the budget
  • You need to re-visit the budget often
  • You need to evaluate what works and what doesn’t work for you
  • You need to understand the process in order for it to succeed
  • You need not give up when you fall
  • You need to invest in yourself and financial literacy
So, although some people may think a budget is for people on low incomes or who are heavily in debt, think again. There’s no business that I know of that runs its organization without an accountant, so why should you run your household without a budget?
Don’t let the beast rule your budget. Take control of your money and know where, when, why, and how you are spending it each month.

How about you all? Do you have a budget that you track/follow each month? If so, how do you track it?

Do you ever find it hard to make your finances actually fit within your budget?

 Share your experiences by commenting below!

***Photo courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/-_Money_01_-.jpg

What Exactly Are Bitcoins and Are They Right For You?

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Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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Click here to enter my free $50.53 giveaway for a chance to win 5% of My Personal Finance Journey blog income and give another 5% to a charity of your choosing! Deadline to enter is April 30th, 2013.

This is a post by MPFJ staff writer, Jeff. Jeff writes about Sustainable living and finances at his website, Sustainable Life Blog. Jeff really enjoys traveling with his wife as much as he can, to wherever he can.

If you’ve been poking around the news lately, it has been pretty hard to avoid hearing something about bitcoins. I vaguely knew what they were before a few months ago, but this week, they have just been all over the news. I figured that lots of people would be curious, so here’s some information on bitcoins.

What is a bitcoin?

A bitcoin is a currency unit (like a dollar) that is not backed by a central bank or country, but instead is a decentralized currency that you can use to pay anyone, anywhere, for anything. There is a set amount of bitcoins available (~21 million) and you can earn them by lending your computer to do complex computations that ensure that the bitcoins currently being spent are legit (this takes quite a while to earn a bitcoin from) or you can buy them on the market at the current trading price. While I’ve never mined a bitcoin, there’s been lots of speculation that it costs bitcoin miners more in energy to get a bitcoin than a bitcoin is worth. All bitcoins have a transaction history (that can be kept anonymous), so bitcoins are difficult to forge.

What Can I buy with a bitcoin?

Well, you can buy anything with a bitcoin, but as of now not many retailers accept them as payment. You can pay friends back with them or the like. However, because they are untraceable, they are frequently used for trade in drugs and guns.

Why Bitcoins?

Well, as of the writing of this article, the price of bitcoins was surging (and crashing) over economic news such as the Bank of Cyrpus depositors funds being converted into bank shares over certain amounts, and speculation about the future of the currency (people buying bitcoins because they thought the value would rise, not so they could spend them). Another reason is that people are looking at bitcoins because of the QE policies that were enacted after the “great recession” around the world.

How to Use Bitcoins?

To use bitcoins, you first need a bitcoin wallet, which you can download for your smart phone or your computer off of the Internet. This will allow you to make bitcoin transactions with anyone else online, pending they also have a bitcoin wallet for you to send them bitcoins. You can send just about any bitcoin (BTC) denomination (down to .0000001 BTC). There are no fees associated with most transactions, and small fees associated with some of the transactions, depending on the size of the transaction. You can also invest in bitcoins (like the famed winklevii twins)

For me right now, I don’t plan on purchasing any bitcoins or using them – it’s just kind of something interesting that’s going on in the world that could change the way that currency changes hands in the future. It’s interesting to see how (if at all) it will effect traditional fiat currencies going forward.

How about you all? What do you think about bitcoins? Have you heard of them or used them at all? If so, what did you think?

Share your experiences by commenting below!

***Photo courtesy of http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bitcoin.png

Five Frugal Living Tips Everyone Can Follow

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Click here to enter my free $50.53 giveaway for a chance to win 5% of My Personal Finance Journey blog income and give another 5% to a charity of your choosing! Deadline to enter is April 30th, 2013.

The following is a guest from Trudy Swann, a regular money saving blogger making the most of life’s frugal ways. Enjoy! 

There are a number of reasons you may choose to live a more frugal lifestyle – you could be putting aside a few pennies for a special occasion, the holiday of a lifetime or alternatively, a new home. Others are forced to be more frugal due to a shortage of loans for people with no credit, something that has become harder to find in recent years.
Regardless of whether you wish to save up for a certain object or event, the first step is to cut back on a few unwarranted expenditures. Listed below are several common ones that might be relevant to you! 

1. Swap the coffee shop for your own coffee/espresso maker

Many consumers will buy items they quite simply don’t need; this is often down to sheer convenience. Take your morning latte for example – I find making my own at home and transferring it to a thermos flask saves me a nice chunk of money each day. If you wish to buy a fancy coffee machine (just like the ones they have in many branded coffee shops), taking out an unsecured loan will can potentially help you with the purchase. The money saved on regular coffee trips can be used to pay off this loan.

2. Make your own lunch

Other ways to save include making your own lunch and taking it to work. I once spent a minimum of £5 per day on lunches; this quickly mounted up over the week. Your office should come equipped with a kitchen area, which will allow you to store any pre-prepared meals in a cool environment. By preparing my own meals, I can make a saving of £20 per week, which totals to £900 over the year. (52 weeks – 5 weeks holiday & 2 weeks bank etc = 45 x £20).

3. Swap the gym for the great outdoors

The majority of individuals that own gym passes and don’t use it is phenomenal.

Many purchase a yearly sports pass with all the right intentions in mind, however both work and home commitments make getting there more effort than it’s worth. Unfortunately, gyms are not cheap, and my monthly membership fee was proving to cause a huge dent in my salary. Working out shouldn’t solely be about the gym and there are plenty of other non-gym based activities available, most of which will easily fit into your current schedule. A lot of them are free too.

You could also try pay-on-the-day Zumba classes and home Yoga videos, both boast to offer fun workouts without the lengthy contract. Activities such as walking the dog and walking the children to school are also great ways to burn calories for free.

4. Grow your own vegetables

If like me, you are lucky enough to have a garden, use it wisely. Growing your own vegetables is not only a fun pastime; it’s also a great way to eat healthily while saving. Many supermarket-bought produce will be slavered in pesticides, which cannot be good for us to eat everyday. By growing my own however, I know exactly where they have come from.

5. Swap the bus for the bike

As the summer months draw in, I tend to opt for the bike instead of the bus, which saves me pounds; it also allows me to lose a few pounds in the meantime. Cycling to work is a great way to clear the head – just in time for any hectic morning meetings you have planned!

How about you all? What are your favorite ways to save money each month? Do you use any of the things mentioned above?

 Share your experiences by commenting below!

Jacob’s Thoughts – Listed below are my random thoughts as I was reading this article.

  • With the exception of # 4 above (growing your own garden), I utilize all of the tips above quite effectively each month.
  • I bike to work instead of driving a car and/or paying for a parking pass.
  • I do not pay for a gym membership since it is included in my student activity fees as a graduate student.
  • I bring and/or eat lunch at home almost every day of the work-week. The only time I don’t is once every couple of weeks when I go out to eat with a group of friends.
  • Lastly, I make my own coffee at home so that I don’t have to buy it at the coffee shops on campus.

***Photo courtesy of http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1394/4605158343_a2c4873f90_o.jpg

Why Entertainment Is an Essential Part of Your Budget

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Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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Click here to enter my free $50.53 giveaway for a chance to win 5% of My Personal Finance Journey blog income and give another 5% to a charity of your choosing! Deadline to enter is April 30th, 2013.

The following post is by MPFJ staff writer Travis.  Travis is a customer blogger for Care One Debt Relief Services, and also appears weekly at Enemy of Debt.  Travis candidly shares his personal journey to pay off $109,000 of credit card debt and the tips he’s learned along the way. As a father and husband he provides a unique perspective on balancing debt, finances, and family.

A few years ago, I did a weight loss program with my wife in which we both lost a considerable amount of weight in a short amount of time.

I dropped 25 pounds in just six weeks, and was within 5 pounds of my goal weight.  My results slowed significantly after that.  I struggled through another two months of the program without losing another pound, and it wasn’t difficult to figure out why.  The program had a very restrictive diet, and after a while I grew tired of selecting my meals from a very short list.  I began eating things not on the list, and eventually gave up on the program.

The diet wasn’t sustainable because it wasn’t real life.

Real life is occasionally going out for pizza with friends, grilling out with neighbors, or having a beer during a football game.
Many financial plans and experts follow the same approach to eliminating debt as my failed diet.  Sell your house, your cars, and everything that isn’t absolutely necessary.  Cut your living expenses to the bone, live in a cardboard box, no vacations, and no fun until every cent of your debt is gone. 
That kind of life isn’t sustainable, and I wouldn’t want it to be.

We’ve made lifestyle cuts to live within our means, but we also make sure that we have money allocated for entertainment to enjoy life and to make those memories that make life worth living.  If you deprive yourself of any kind of fun,  eventually you may be filled with resentment of the process and fall off the wagon.   If you strip your lifestyle down to the bare bones necessities, and you successfully stick with it until your debt is eliminated, what you’ve taught yourself is how to live on the bare minimum.  You’ve taught yourself how to consistently say, “No!” to yourself.  What you haven’t gained are the skills to live a balanced life walking the line of living within your means AND spending some of your earnings to enjoy life.
We’re almost 4 years into our debt management plan.  We make the payment to our program, along with our other financial commitments each month and feed some to our emergency fund. What’s left over is ours.  We go out to eat occasionally, we fought tooth and nail to keep our home, and we’ve even gone on vacation while paying off our debt.   We could have eliminated our debt faster if we would have taped into gazelle intensity with more extreme frugality.  But would living like hermits for years to get out of debt a few months earlier really have been worth it? 
Not to me.

We’ve been practicing real life.  We’ve learned to live within our means and enjoy life at the same time.  We’ve learned to balance saying “yes” and “no” to ourselves.
That’s a lifestyle that’s sustainable.

How about you all? Where do you draw the line between aggressively saving / paying off debt and making sure you actually are enjoying life?

 Share your experiences by commenting below!

 ***Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Fedex, UPS, or USPS – Which is the Best Option for Mailing Packages?

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Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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Click here to enter my free $50.53 giveaway for a chance to win 5% of My Personal Finance Journey blog income and give another 5% to a charity of your choosing! Deadline to enter is April 30th, 2013.

If you’re like me, you’re probably all too familiar with THE FEELING.

You know – the feeling where you hurry over to your local post office during your lunch break or on your way home, just wanting to mail a small little package to someone. As you enter the building, BOOM, you see it; the post office line is so long that it is curled around the room and itching to push out of the door. The only option is to either a) wait in line for 30 minutes and deal with the huffing and puffing of the upset folks in line and the benevolent underpaid/overworked postal workers or b) come back later. Which do you choose?

Generally, I tend to just stomach the wait in line and mail off my package as opposed to coming back. At the very least, I get an interesting lesson in human behavior, right?!

However, during a recent family visit to my sister’s new condo in Raleigh, North Carolina, she mentioned that she now prefers to do all of her mailing by skipping the local post office (USPS) and using a UPS store instead.

I thought this was a fascinating idea. Whenever I have gone to Fedex or UPS stores, there is almost never any wait, and even though I sometimes get confused about which form to fill out, things seem to go pretty quickly. You can even use some of their packaging supplies at the store for free!

As such, the purpose of today’s post is to put some details to the comparison of the three big players in today’s package-shipping market, Fedex, UPS (United Parcel Service), and the USPS (United States Postal Service), in an effort to determine which is the best option. 

Let’s get started!

Comparison of the Companies and Business Models

First, I think it’s useful to take a brief look at how these 3 key companies that dominate the shipping industry are structured.

On one hand, Fedex and UPS are both publicly-traded for-profit companies. UPS (ticker symbol also = UPS) is a monster, with just under 400,000 employees, a market capitalization of $79 billion, 2012 year revenue of $53 billion, and has been profitable every year for the past 10 years. Fedex (ticker symbol FDX) is a little smaller, with only around 150,000 employees, a market cap of $30 billion, 2012 year revenue of $43 billion, and also has been profitable in each of the past 10 years. The stocks of each of these companies has averaged about a 5% increase per year for the past 10 years as well, so a pretty respectable performance.

Then, on the other hand, you have the USPS, which seems to be struggling more and more with each passing year. The USPS is an independent agency of the US Federal Government, created by the US Constitution. They have a very large employee workforce of 574,000 workers. The USPS received subsidies from taxpayer dollars up until 1980, and has been struggling ever since 2006 when Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement act and also since the use of email has drastically reduced the amount of first-class mailings around the country. One severe hindrance to how efficient the USPS can operate is that it is legally obligated to maintain enough manpower to serve everyone, meaning that even though there may be no mail to pick up, it must spend time and man-hours keeping up the same routes year-in and year-out.

Comparison of Package Mailing Rates and Delivery Speed – Larger / Heavier Items

Having gotten a feel for the way each of these three companies/agencies are structured, the next thing to investigate is the price-points they charge for mailing packages.

To give a basis for comparison, we’ll assume that I am wanting to mail a 15 lb package containing X-mas gifts from my parents’ house in Arkansas to my home here in Virginia. The package (no declared value or other value-added services) will be in a non-branded box of which the dimensions will be 24 inches long, 12 inches wide, and 8 inches tall. 

 Listed below are the pricing results I found from the Fedex, UPS, and USPS websites for the shipment: (I am showing 2 prices, one for dropping off at a Fedex/UPS/USPS location, and one for having them pick up the package from my parents’ home. I also highlighted in bold the shipping level I would select for each carrier for this specific package)

  • Fedex
    • First Overnight – $176 / $180
    • Priority Overnight – $141 / $146 
    • Standard Overnight – $130 / $135
    • 2Day A.M – $72 / $77
    • 2Day – $63 / $68
    • Express Saver 3 Day – $44 / $49
    • Home Delivery 3 Day – $18 / $21
  • UPS
    • Next Day Air Early AM – $175 / $184
    • Next Day Air – $141 / $150
    • Next Day Air Saver – $130 / $140
    • 2nd Day Air – $63 / $73
    • 3 Day Select – $44 / $54
    • Ground 3 Day – $20 / $30

  • USPS
    • With the USPS, we will assume there is no extra charge for picking up the package at my parents’ home, since the postal worker already comes by there and can just pick it up on his or her normal route. 
    • However, there is a significant reduction in price when we pay/print shipping online vs at a Post Office. Therefore, I’ve listed both of these prices below (Post Office price first / Online Price second):
      • Express Mail (overnight-2 days, 2 days guaranteed) – $92 / $60
      • Priority Mail (2-3 days) – $35 / $30
      • Standard Post (~7 days) – $25 (cannot print online)
      • Media Mail (~7 days, must contain media) – $8.67 (cannot print online)

 So, from the pricing quotes/data above, it appears that Fedex is the cheapest for heavier items, followed by UPS, and that the USPS is not only the slowest, but also the most expensive! Nice, right?!

However, there are two likely exceptions that would make the USPS the cheaper/better choice:

  • If the contents of what you were mailing were to actually qualify as “media,” it would be cheaper (and also slower) to use the USPS. But, this would require you to have to go to a Post Office location and wait in line to get the postage paid for, which may or may not be worth the pain! 🙂
  • Second, if you can utilize one of the flat-rate shipping boxes and stuff it with as much weight as possible, it will definitely be cheaper than another option from UPS/Fedex.

In addition, I found several other very useful comparison posts about Fedex, UPS, and the USPS:

  • Cheapism.com reported that the USPS was the cheapest across the board, mainly because of flat-rate shipping boxes. 
  • SugarSavvy reported in 2011 that USPS was also the cheapest option across the board, especially for lighter items. 
  • MyWifeQuitHerDayJob gives a great breakdown of which carrier is cheapest for different specific circumstances. However, he mentions that USPS is most often, the cheapest option of the three carrier.

Comparison of Package Mailing Rates and Delivery Speed – Smaller / Lighter Items

Having seen that the conclusions that several of these other comparison posts came to was pretty much the exact opposite of what I found, I figured I should run a second analysis using different parameters to see if USPS could emerge as a less-bad option.

This time, we’ll assume that I am wanting to mail a 1 lb package containing X-mas gifts from my aunt’s house near Los Angeles, CA to my home here in Virginia. The package (no declared value or other value-added services) will be in a non-branded box of which the dimensions will be 14 inches long, 12 inches wide, and 3 inches tall. 

Listed below are the pricing results I found from the Fedex, UPS, and USPS websites for the shipment: (As before, I am showing 2 prices, one for dropping off at a Fedex/UPS/USPS location, and one for having them pick up the package from my parents’ home. I also highlighted in bold the shipping level I would select for each carrier for this specific package)

  • Fedex
    • First Overnight – $123 / $127
    • Priority Overnight – $88 / $93 
    • Standard Overnight – $80 / $84
    • 2Day A.M – $48 / $52
    • 2Day – $42 / $46
    • Express Saver 3 Day – $32 / $36
    • Home Delivery 4 Day – $9 / $9
  • UPS
    • Next Day Air Early AM – $125 / $135
    • Next Day Air – $92 / $102
    • Next Day Air Saver – $83 / $93
    • 2nd Day Air – $45 / $55
    • 3 Day Select – $35 / $45
    • Ground 4 Day – $14 / $24

  • USPS
    • With the USPS, we will assume there is no extra charge for picking up the package at my parents’ home, since the postal worker already comes by there and can just pick it up on his or her normal route. 
    • However, there is a significant reduction in price when we pay/print shipping online vs at a Post Office. Therefore, I’ve listed both of these prices below (Post Office price first / Online Price second):
      • Express Mail (overnight-2 days, 2 days guaranteed) – $36 / $28
      • Priority Mail (2-3 days) – $7 / $7
      • Standard Post (~7 days) – $7 (cannot print online)
      • Media Mail (~7 days, must contain media) – $3 (cannot print online)

So, from the pricing quotes/data above, it appears that USPS is the cheapest for lighter items (but also the slowest, and only cheaper than Fedex by $2), followed by FedEx, and then UPS is the most expensive.

Comparison of Locations / Accessibility / Waiting Time for Mailing Packages

Having established that the pricing and delivery speed levels of the three carriers, we now need to explore whether or not UPS and Fedex are on par in terms of accessibility with the USPS (which we know is EVERYWHERE, per their legal obligation).

From a qualitative standpoint, I am thinking that there are likely MORE Fedex and UPS locations than Post Offices, since about every medium-to-large sized city I have lived in has had multiple UPS and Fedex locations, especially since Fedex merged with Kinko’s and operates out of Kinko’s locations as well. However, this is just my gut-feeling. Below are some actual numbers:

So, I think it’s safe to say that if you live in an area with more than 20-20k people, you will undoubtedly have access to a UPS or Fedex store close by. 

 And, not only will it likely be cheaper/quicker to ship a package from there, but in my experience, there is almost never a line of more than 1-2 people at UPS / Fedex.

However, what if you live in a less-populated area, say a city that only has a population of 2-3k? In that case, it’s probably worth at least checking to see if there are any Fedex or UPS locations close by. But, I wouldn’t place much hope on it, judging from the results of the search I’ve done using the Fedex / UPS store locator tools in rural Arkansas and rural Virginia.

Therefore, if you live in a small town, you should take advantage of the fact that every town has a USPS Post Office and just do your mailing from there. You likely will not have the long waits that people in larger cities have to mess around with too!

Conclusions and My Personal Path Forward

After looking at the various considerations from this post comparing cost, delivery speed, accessibility, and ease of usage, the following conclusions can be made regarding Fedex vs. UPS vs. the USPS:

  • UPS and Fedex have much more efficient business models, as we would expect for for-profit companies. However, the advantage that the USPS does have is a very extensive reach to serve basically everyone in the USA (even rural communities).
  • For heavier items (using non-branded, non-media items / packaging) greater than 2 lbs, Fedex seems to be the cheapest and fastest option, and also offers very good rates for coming to pick the item up at your home.
  • For lighter items (using non-branded packaging) less than 1-2 lbs, USPS seems to be the cheapest option, but is also quite slow compared to the other carriers. 
  • If you live in a medium-to-largely populated area, you should have no trouble finding a UPS or Fedex store close by to your home/business.
  • If you live in a rural area or small town, you likely will not have access to UPS / Fedex and instead, should just use your local USPS Post Office.

My Personal Path Forward – For me, since I am very close by both a Fedex and UPS store, I have no trouble with the accessibility issue. Therefore, it really all comes down to cost and ease of use.

Since Fedex is cheaper for heavier items and pretty close in pricing for lighter items compared to the USPS, I believe I will start using Fedex for all of my routine package mailing (where I can’t use media mail or just stick some stamps on an envelope and put it in my mailbox), since the waiting time is much less at Fedex.

How about you all? Do you normally mail packages using UPS, Fedex, the USPS, or another carrier?

 How would you rate their service?

 Share your experiences by commenting below!

***Photo courtesy of http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3009/2959726971_50fb4726f5_z.jpg?zz=1

“The Joneses” Are Broke

The following is the first post by MPFJ staff writer, Catherine Alford. Cat is a freelance personal finance writer who blogs at www.BudgetBlonde.com. Enjoy and welcome her to the MPFJ family! 

We all know that family. They seem perfect. Both parents have great jobs. Their kids are doing well in school. They drive expensive cars. The mom carries a designer bag. The dad plays golf every weekend at the country club. It seems like they always have a housekeeper or a gardener helping to keep their home looking pristine. Essentially, it seems like they have it all.

 If there’s a new type of TV out, they’ve bought it. If there’s a new gadget, they have it. If there’s an exotic locale, they’ve been there. If it has a Nike check on it, it’s on their feet. Sharing isn’t a priority; each kid has their own iPad to keep them occupied on road trips.

 Being around a family like that can definitely make the rest of us feel a bit inadequate, and it’s really tempting to try to “keep up with the Joneses” as the saying goes.

 However, if there’s anything I’ve learned over the past few years of adulthood, it’s that the Joneses are broke.

 Okay, I’m not saying that every single family who seems to have it all is secretly drowning in credit card debt. I’m just trying to illustrate that many people who treat possessions as status symbols rarely take the time to carefully save or invest because they’re always spending their money on the latest thing.

So, here are a few steps you can take to combat those times when you feel like you just don’t measure up.

Remind Yourself of Your Successes

Sure, the Joneses look successful, but you’ve had your own great successes too. Go through them in your mind and give yourself credit for how far you’ve come. Perhaps you just spent the last 3 years rigorously paying off all of your debt. If that’s the case, then you likely went without life’s little extras for a few years! Wasn’t it worth the sacrifice? Doesn’t it feel great to be debt free?

Similarly, maybe you just finished college, or maybe you just got a promotion. Perhaps you got an award or maybe a lot of people read your blog. Listing your own successes in your mind reminds you of all of the great things you’ve done. Maybe the Joneses should try to be measuring up to you!

 

Realize You’re On Your Own Journey

Every single person has their own path that they are on. Each of us has had our own trials and our own tribulations. Maybe the Joneses used to struggle, but one of them lost a parent, and they recently got a huge inheritance. Perhaps they won the lottery. Or, maybe it’s all a clever ruse.

The thing is, we’ll never truly know what other people’s finances look like unless they tell us. So, it’s best to not concern ourselves with what people might or might not have.

Don’t let yourself feel inadequate or inferior to someone else just because of what it appears they have. You don’t know what path they are on, and you don’t know how different their journey is from yours. Keep your eyes on your own goals and remind yourself why you maintain the lifestyle that you do.

 

Understand That Worrying About Them Wastes Energy

We can’t help the fact that it’s human nature to compare ourselves with others. Whether consciously or unconsciously, we all do it. Yet, if trying to keep up with the Joneses is causing you anxiety or even worse, hurting your pocketbook, then it’s time to assess the situation.

How many times have you felt that you don’t measure up simply because of something the Joneses owned or said? How many times have you had those jealous feelings? Every time they post on Facebook? Everytime you interact with them at soccer practice?

Those types of negative thoughts are harmful to our psyche. Instead of using our energy to succeed in our own lives and our own careers, we can easily waste it going through someone’s vacation Facebook album wishing we were them.

When you catch yourself feeling this way, channel your energy into something positive. Ask yourself, “What do I have to do to reach that level of financial security that I think they have? Is feeling like less of a person in comparison to them actually helping me achieve my financial goals?”

The answers are yours to seek out, but just remember that things are not always what they seem. As long as your finances are on track and you are achieving your own goals, what the Joneses do in their day-to-day lives truly does not matter.

How about you all? Has anyone else ever come across this type of person? Have you felt tempted to keep up with the Joneses? 

 Or, do you make a concerted effort to only focus on your own accomplishments?

 Share your experiences by commenting below!

***Photo courtesy of http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4078/4873936727_e939fe30be_o.jpg

Birthday Freebies: Get Cool Stuff Just for Being Born!

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Click here to enter my free $50.53 giveaway for a chance to win 5% of My Personal Finance Journey blog income and give another 5% to a charity of your choosing! Deadline to enter is April 30th, 2013.

The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Kelly Gurnett. Kelly runs the blog Cordelia Calls It Quits, where she documents her attempts to rid her life of the things that don’t matter and focus more on the things that do. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.


My husband and I are going through a bit of a shift financially. 

With him about to apply for disability for Fibromyalgia, we’ve suddenly had to rework our monthly budget to include ½ our normal household income. Entertainment, grocery, and other categories have been slashed. Every single thing we can pitch from our expenses, we’ve been pitching.

So. when my birthday came up last Friday, I wasn’t expecting it to feel like a “real” birthday. I had cake and dinner with my family planned for the weekend, but I was planning on the day itself being just another work day. (Freelancing from home, so at least I got to stay in my PJs, but otherwise not very special.)

Then, I started receiving my birthday freebie e-mails.


My (Super Cheap) Special Day

I’d forgotten all about them in the course of dealing with our current budget crack-down, but years ago, I signed up for a ton of birthday freebies, and every year, they show up in my inbox like lovely extra gifts.


Thanks to birthday freebies, my husband and I enjoyed a delicious lunch at Red Robin—a free birthday burger for me, a gift card I’d received as a present paid for my husband’s burger and our drinks, and I got a free birthday sundae in lieu of being sung to. (Side note: being one of several tables in the restaurant sung to that day vs. free ice cream? I’m choosing the ice cream.)

For dinner, I claimed my free birthday Grand Slam at Denny’s (gotta love pancakes for dinner), and my husband ordered a $4 item off their “$2, $4, $6, $8” menu—two chicken wraps with salsa, more than enough for a filling meal.

The total damages, for the meals and the movie we decided to splurge and rent on the way home? Under $10. For two good meals and a movie.


Claim Your Free Stuff!

For a full and frequently updated list of all the places that offer birthday freebies, check out sites like Hey It’s Free’s list and BirthdayFreebies.com, where you’ll see deals nationwide and in your area. 

Usually, freebies are things like a free dessert with your meal, a BOGO entrée, or a certain dollar amount off your check. But sometimes, you can make out like a bandit. Did you know Benihana’s Japanese Restaurant gives you a free $30 gift certificate? (Makes me wish there were a Benihana’s in my area!)

Some deals are only good on your birthday, but many are good for the week if not the entire month of your birthday—so technically, you could spread the birthday celebration out for weeks! Combine your freebie with other discounts (like we did with our Red Robin gift card and the Denny’s value menu), and you can get some seriously cheap meals simply for being born.

And it’s not just limited to restaurants—you can find birthday deals at retailers and entertainment centers, too. So have a free meal, go get yourself a free present at Aveda, and then enjoy a free game of bowling.

Being showered with gifts and saving a ton of money? Now that’s my definition of an awesome birthday.
            

How about you all? What cool birthday freebies have you come across? 

 Share your experiences by commenting below!

***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/dn1975/8465037269/

Is Buying in Bulk Really Cheaper? Costco vs. Super Walmart

The following post is by MPFJ staff writer Travis.  Travis is a customer blogger for Care One Debt Relief Services, and also appears weekly at Enemy of Debt.  Travis candidly shares his personal journey to pay off $109,000 of credit card debt and the tips he’s learned along the way. As a father and husband he provides a unique perspective on balancing debt, finances, and family.

A few months ago, a Costco opened up near my home.  My wife and I checked it out as guests of some friends who had purchased a membership.  I was skeptical of even going, as I haven’t been a fan of buying in bulk for the following reasons:

  • Many times, the product isn’t any cheaper per unit, it’s just in a big package.
  • Buying in bulk can cause people to buy and consume more.
  • Bigger packages can mean waste because products expire or get stale before they’re used up.

On the other hand, as we walked around the store,  I saw many great products.  I also saw products that we normally use in bulk sizes.  I remembered a comment on a different blog post about club store shopping that suggested making a monthly trip to the store,  purchasing items in bulk once a month, then filling in other things around it as needed from a “regular” grocery store.

Before unleashing my checkbook on a Costco membership and products, I wanted to ensure that buying products at Costco that we actually use will save us money.  I spent time walking through both Costco and a Super Walmart, where we usually purchase the bulk of our groceries,  comparing prices to find out which of the products my family uses would be worth purchasing at Costco.

The following is just a sample of the comparative data of commonly used products from both stores:

Orville Redenbachers Smart Pop 94% fat free microwave popcorn:

Costco:           $10.99 for 40 packages                  (27.5 cents per bag)

Walmart:         $5.18 for 10 packages                    (51.8 cents per bag)

 

Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter:

Costco:           $10.99 for two 48oz jars                  (11.4 cents per ounce)

Walmart:         $4.08 for a 28oz jar              (14.6 cents per ounce)

 

Bounty Paper Towels:

Costco:           $19.99 for 12 Jumbo Rolls             (23 cents per square foot)

Walmart:         $  9.97 for   6 Super Rolls               (39 cents per square foot)

 

Hamburger:

Costco:           $14.95 for 5lbs of 88/12                  ($2.95 per pound)

Walmart:         $  4.28 for one pound of 90/10      ($4.28 per pound)

 

Soda:

Costco:           $5.99 for a 24 pack                          ($5.99 per 24 pack)

Walmart:         $6.48 for a 24 pack                          ($6.48 for a 24 pack)

 

Red Grapes:

Costco:           $9.92 for 4 pounds                          ($2.48 per pound)

Walmart:         Varies                                                 ($2.48 per pound)

I was surprised that almost every item that I checked was significantly cheaper when bought in bulk at Costco (negating one of my earlier points). 

Products purchased by household will vary, but I didn’t find many products that I would have an expiration problem with.  For example, with the hamburger, I would separate it into five 1-pound packages, put into freezer bags, and freeze them.  I would have a concern about the peanut butter, as I’m not sure we would use that much peanut butter before the second jar would go bad.  This may be a good opportunity to split the cost with a neighbor, each taking one of the gigantic jars.

I found that Costco carried many products that I normally cannot find at Walmart, such as a wide selection of non-frozen seafood.  However, I also found that  Costco did NOT carry some products that we use every week.  For example, the frozen pizza selection at Costco was horrible.  For that item alone, we would have to make a weekly trip to Walmart or some other store to pick up frozen pizza.

While shopping at Costco looks to be able to save us quite a bit of money, the biggest obstacle will be coming up with the funds for what will likely be a large and quite expensive monthly shopping trip.

How about you, readers, do you shop at Costco or another club store?  How often during the month do you shop there, and how do you budget for an expensive shopping trip?

Share your experiences by commenting below!

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