My Personal Finance Journey

Category Archives for Saving Money & Frugal Living

Discover it vs. Chase Freedom Visa – Credit Card Boxing Series – Match # 1

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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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Let’s face it. Sometimes, reading about personal finance can make for some pretty dry reading. Annual fee this, interest rate that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Are you still awake?

So, in an attempt to spice things up a little bit, I’ve decided to start a series of MPFJ called, Credit Card Boxing. In each match, two credit cards (of the same general category of credit card) will be compared side by side in an attempt to determine which reigns supreme over the other.

In this, the first match of the series, we’re comparing two general purpose credit cards.

In the left corner, we have weighing in at a hefty 5.23 g (weighed in the scale in my lab), my favorite credit card that I use for almost all of my purchases, the Chase Freedom Visa Card.

In the right corner, we have weighing in at a respectable 5.2 g, the new Discover it Card. I haven’t personally tried out this card yet, so I was curious to learn a little more about it.

Shown below is a screenshot from CreditCards.com (the first place I go for looking up information on credit cards) listing all of the pertinent details for the Chase Freedom Visa Card.

  • Chase Freedom Visa Pluses
    • There is no annual fee.
    • A very nice $100 bonus for signing up.
    • 5% cash back in rotating categories every quarter. From personal experience, I can tell you that these categories are actually quite useful. They are not highly specific like with some cards. For example, right now, they are doing 5% cash back for gas stations. I think pretty much anyone can relate to the benefits of getting cash back for gas purchases. They have also done grocery stores in the past, although discount stores like WalMart, Sam’s, and Costco do not qualify for this.
    • 1% cash back on all other purchases.
  • Chase Freedom Visa Minuses
    • Requires excellent credit history, which can be a deal breaker for some folks. 
    • 3% transaction fee for all transactions completed in a foreign currency. This can add up quickly! 

And, shown below is a table listing out all of the pertinent details for the Discover it Card.

  • Discover it Pluses
    • No annual fee
    • Won’t increase your interest rate if you pay late once or twice. 
    • No foreign currency transaction fees. 
    • 5% cash back in rotating categories throughout the year. 
    • 1% cash back on all other purchases. 
  • Discover it Minuses
    • Because it’s a Discover card, it may not be accepted everywhere like Visa/Mastercard. Because of this, you’ll likely always have to carry another card in your wallet/purse in addition to this one. I also am not sure of how widely Discover is accepted outside the US either.
    • While the Discover it Card does offer 5% cash back in rotating categories throughout the year, they do not appear to be very broad/general. 
      • According to the Discover it rewards calendar, the current categories are restaurants and movies. Unfortunately, I do not currently spend much money, if any, on restaurants and movies, so for me, this wouldn’t be that helpful. 
      • The other categories throughout the year are “Summer Fun,” “Home Improvement,” and “Holiday Shopping.” Unfortunately, they don’t specify the details yet of what will fall in to this category. However, the Summer Fun and Home Improvement categories don’t seem like they would help me that much compared to general categories like groceries, gas, etc.
    •  Requires excellent credit history, which can be a deal breaker for some folks. 

Who’s the Winner?

Although I honestly wouldn’t be ashamed of having either of these cards, I would have to say that for my money, the winner here is the Chase Freedom Visa Card.  What made me lean towards this one was because the Chase Freedom Visa Card offers more general/robust 5% cash back categories and is also more widely accepted than Discover.

How about you all? Do you think the Chase Freedom Visa or Discover it Card sounds like a better deal?

Do you personally carry either of these cards?

Share your experiences by commenting below!

Click Here to Compare Credit Cards

Taking Vacations on the Cheap: Piggy Back on Your Spouse’s Business Trip

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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 post is by MPFJ staff writer, Melissa Batai. Melissa is a freelance writer who covers topics ranging from personal finance to business to organics to food.  She blogs at Mom’s Plans, where she shares her family’s journey to healthier living and paying down debt.

When you are living like no one else so later you can live like no one else (as Dave Ramsey is fond of saying), there isn’t much room in the budget for a vacation.  Still, if you’ll be repaying your debt for longer than a year or two, foregoing all vacations can be difficult.

We are 1.5 years into our debt repayment and likely have at least another two years.  While we are paying down debt, our children are getting older, and we’d like to take them to see other areas of the country.  Luckily, we’ve found an excellent way to do just that, by piggy backing a family vacation on either my husband’s or my conference attendance.

My husband is in a post-doc position, so being visible at conferences through presentations is vital to his career growth.  His employer pays for his transportation, hotel, food, and conference ticket.  We, as a family, have tagged along several times for a minimal price.


Places We Have Been

By far, our favorite location was Washington, D.C.  Almost all of our expenses were covered–hotel, mileage for our car ride there and back, my husband’s food, and conference admission.  The kids and I had all day to visit different national monuments and museums.  Many tourist attractions in Washington, D.C. are free, so we paid very little out of pocket.

We have also been to Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham, Columbus, OH, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Montreal.  This year, his conferences are in Memphis and Boston. 

My son is 8 and a history nut, so we’re excited about taking him both places.  In Memphis, we plan to visit the National Civil Rights Museum and Graceland.  We’re not sure what we’ll visit in Boston since that conference isn’t until the fall, but traveling there will be exciting as it is a city rich in history and none of us have been there before.

Note from Jacob: If your husband ever is heading to Richmond, Virginia (near where I live in Charlottesville) for a conference, there is a lot of Civil War/Confederacy history there that your son might like! 🙂

How Much We Spend

Typically, for each vacation, we spend less than $200 as a family.  We have a few tactics for keeping the cost low:

1.  Stay in a hotel that has a refrigerator and microwave, at least.  Before we go on a trip, I make several meals in advance and freeze them.  Then, we fill our cooler with the freezer meals as well as sandwich supplies and homemade snacks such as granola bars and muffins.  Once we reach our destination, we buy some vegetables that are microwavable and fruit.  We always eat at the hotel, which makes our food costs no more expensive than they’d be if we were eating at home.

Note from Jacob: This really works wonders! I use this tactic when I am traveling for running races. Not only is being able to eat in your hotel room cheaper, but I can also get more of the targeted types of pre-race food that I want as well! 

2.  Visit free attractions.  Whenever possible, we visit free attractions.  This is easy in a place like Washington, D.C., but it proved to be a bit more difficult in Raleigh, for instance.  There were some things we would have enjoyed doing in Raleigh, but we just had to pass because we couldn’t afford the expensive tickets.  In Memphis, we will likely spend money on Graceland and the National Civil Rights Museum.  After that, we will try to find free things to do for fun.

3.  Pack food for the car ride.  We pack sandwiches and snacks for the car ride as well as lots of water so we don’t need to stop to eat.  Not only is stopping at a restaurant to eat time consuming when traveling, it’s also expensive.

Tagging along on my husband’s conferences only works for those conferences which are in driving distance.  Still, using this technique, we’ve been able to visit some interesting places at a fraction of the price the vacation would have cost. 

We’ve enjoyed this method of vacationing so much, even when we are out of debt, we’ll likely use this as our main method of vacationing.

How about you all? Have you ever accompanied a spouse on a business trip for a vacation?  What techniques do you use to save money?

Share your experiences by commenting below! 

    ***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianloic/3725569230/sizes/l/in/photostream/

    How To Save Money In The Garage

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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 article is by MPFJ staff writer, Miss T from Prairie Eco-Thrifter. If you want to learn how to live your dream life in a sustainable, healthy, and money savvy way, check out her site here.

    To be honest with you, I never really thought about finding ways to save money in the garage. 

     I mean, it’s just a place for the car, yard tools, and to store things we don’t want in the house, right? I guess our garage looks pretty much like everyone else’s; full of all sorts of odds and ends, a bit of a mess – with only just enough room for the cars.

    Getting Started – Cleaning it Out

    It was when I got sick and tired of seeing the mess every day that I found there were in fact ways I could save some cash here. I decided to clean the whole thing out and I set aside a weekend to do the task. Let me tell you now, one weekend was not nearly enough time! We ended up with piles of sporting and camping equipment, bikes and scooters, old toys, boxes, tools and all manner of extraneous objects, spread all over the yard. Emptying the garage was the easy bit; we then had to sort, organize and repack things.

    Anyway, I’m not here to tell you about the horror time I had cleaning out my garage. I want to tell you some of the ways I discovered I could save money there. 

    Money-Saving Idea #1 – Check for Proper Insulation

    Firstly, it was high summer when I decided to clean out the space, and what I discovered was just how hot it was in there. It was more noticeable when the space was empty and the longer I was in there, the hotter it became. Compared to the rest of the house, the temperature in the garage had to have been between 10 and 15 degrees higher.

    Looking around, I figured out why; there was absolutely no insulation in the space. This apparently is quite common; builders save money by cutting corners like this in a garage. There was no lining on the walls or ceiling at all and the heat just poured in. The garage door had gaps on either side and underneath which would let in both heat and cold drafts. When I checked the wall that was common to the house, I could feel the heat radiating through that inside wall. This meant, of course, that we were using extra power (i.e.: wasting money) to cool this room because of the heat passing through the wall from the garage. When I thought about it, I realized the same would be true in winter; the cold from the garage would be coming through this common wall as well and costing us extra to heat the house. So, making sure your garage is lined and/or insulated, and your garage door has draft strips fitted, are both great ways to save money.

    One trip to the local hardware store later, and I had enough insulated lining boards to do the whole space. While I was there, I also bought supplies to fit a mezzanine shelf under half the ceiling to store some of the ‘stuff’ that we just had to keep. I figured this would help with the insulation as well as provide extra storage. I hope this will mean that the garage will be tidier in future. Being a bit of a home handyman, I was confident I could do the job myself, but I called in a friend to lend a hand. Even if you had to hire a tradesman, I think you would still be ahead financially, over time.

    Money-Saving Idea #2 – Don’t Waste Money Buying Duplicate Items

    During this extensive clean-up job, I realized one very important thing. Not only did we keep too much junk, but we also had multiples of some items. What did this mean? Obviously, because the garage was in such a mess, we didn’t know exactly what we had and therefore, had gone out and bought items that were already stored away in the messy garage! So, money-saving tip number two – a tidy, organized garage saves you money because you can see what you have. When the mezzanine was up, I wrote an inventory of what we stored up there, laminated it and stuck it to the garage wall. Now, we know exactly what is stored there and so we won’t waste money buying duplicate items.

    Money-Saving Idea #3 – Hold a Yard/Garage Sale to Make Some Money from Your Excess Items

    At the end of this exercise, we had loads of stuff left that we didn’t want to keep anymore, that the kids had outgrown or was broken. A neighbor suggested holding a garage sale to get rid of the excess. I wasn’t too sure about this, but the rest of the family decided it was a good idea – I think they all saw dollar signs in their eyes! Anyway, long story short, we did hold a garage sale which proved to be very popular. We put up notices about it around the neighborhood and in local shops and had a huge turnout on the day. Would you believe, we made more than $400!

    So this is the final tip on how to save money in your garage; hold a yard sale and make money after de-cluttering and sorting out your garage. I’m certainly glad we did.

    How about you all? Have you ever realized that more money than you thought was being wasted/spent in your garage? Have you used any of the tips above?

     Share your experiences by commenting below!

      ***Photo courtesy of http://prairieecothrifter.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/iStock_000013133864XSmall.jpg

      Banking Options After Moving to a New Country

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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. Enjoy! 

      When moving country as part of a permanent or temporary move, depending on how you see life, it is unlikely that banking products and their accessibility in your new country of residence will be near the top of your list of priorities. 

       However, inevitably, if you plan on working or even having a long term stay with family, you will require banking facilities in your new country. There are many good reasons to hold banking products in your new country, such as a safe holding for your money so as to avoid carrying high amounts of physical cash or avoiding foreign currency usage/conversion fees.
       
      A major advantage to having accessible banking in the country you are travelling to is having a bank locally that operates internationally. In these cases, many banks will have very efficient services for the transferal and opening of basic banking facilities and more when you arrive. As your originating country will have verified your identity and performed the usual credit checks in your home country, this greatly reduces the lead time for application in your new country.
       
      As in most countries, the first step is to register for a basic current account, as this will allow you the access to more complex products (e.g. loans, savings accounts etc). Since moving countries will cost substantial sums of money and especially if you are looking to rent a property and need a deposit, some form of easy access savings account will be required to hold funds.
       
      Many products when moving countries are similar to products you will have found in your originating country, especially when it comes to savings products. For example, in the United Kingdom, a particularly popular way to save money over a set period of time is through fixed rate bonds investing, which are also available in the USA as a certificate of deposit (CD). The application process for these products will be similar with similar terms of use, although as always, the fine print should always be consulted.

      How about you all? Have you ever opened a bank account in a new country? Was the process more or less difficult than you expected it to be?

       Share your experiences by commenting below!

      ***Photo courtesy of http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/12/24/122440_5b5c0462.jpg

      Getting Your Security Deposit Back after Renting an Apartment

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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 post by MPFJ staff writer, SK. SK writes about the reasons we get into debt, changing the patterns that get us into debt, and examines small business ownership and real estate investing at her blog, American Debt Project.

      Part of the reason why I accumulated debt so easily over the years was how frequently I moved. Although I enjoyed the chance to live in so many different places, I never considered the financial impact of not settling down in one place. 

      All of those moving costs, new furniture, and security deposits have added up over the years. But when it comes to security deposits, I have finally figured out how to protect myself as a tenant in order to receive the maximum security deposit when I move out. Here are the lessons I have learned over the years when it comes to getting your landlord to refund your deposit promptly:


      Know Your Rights

      Landlord and Tenant protection laws are set by the state and city you live in. In California, there is an entire set of guidelines, and several cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, have additional regulations. For example, in Los Angeles there is rent stabilization that limits most landlords from increasing rent more than 3-4% per year. I have seen instances where landlords in LA charged my friends more than that, and I pushed them to go back and demand they correct it. When it comes to security deposits, the laws are pretty clear about the following:

      • How long the landlord has to return your security deposit (In California it is 21 days)

      • What can and can’t be taken out from your security deposit (unpaid rent-yes, replacing a carpet with normal wear and tear-no)

      • How much can be charged for certain items: In California, landlords can deduct the cost of cleaning or repairs to original condition up to $125 without sending you an itemized invoice. If you knew this, it would be a lot easier to dispute a $175 cleaning fee.

      Document Everything

      It will be a lot easier to show your landlord that you left the apartment in good condition if you take pictures. Did you pay to have the carpet cleaned while you lived there? Keep the receipt! Make sure to take photos when you move in to document existing damage as well as when you move out to show how you left the unit. 

      Before you relinquish the keys, take note of every possible item that you might be charged for and if possible, have an approach to not getting charged for it. I was really nervous that my landlord would charge me for the damage to the corner of a cabinet that my dog had chewed. Thankfully, she didn’t charge me anything, but if she had, I would be protected from paying the entire cost of the cabinet, since the cabinet was not new upon move-in. Knowing these things made me more comfortable and ready to handle any charges that might come my way.


      Start with the Friendly Approach

      I was lucky in this last move I just completed (and hopefully one of my last renting experiences!). I got back $1225 from a $1350 deposit, the $125 fee being for cleaning. If I wanted, I could have argued for the fee, but I was pleased enough with not getting charged any pet fees or damage fees that I let it go. 

      However, in the apartment before this one, the process was not as easy. The management company not only didn’t want to return my $300 security deposit, they wanted another $600, most of which was for replacing a carpet and damage to the paint. When I got that notice, I was inflamed. I tended to get more angry back then! I immediately started writing an angry, righteous letter detailing all of the reasons why I didn’t owe them, they owed me. Later that day, I told my friend, who is a politician, about the issue. He spends all day negotiating with people and making people feel good. I figured whatever advice he gave me would probably work. He immediately told me not to send the letter. “Why don’t you go down there and talk with them?” He told me to go in with an easy, friendly approach, and if I showed them I hoped they would help me, they would be more willing to be reasonable than if I had sent an angry letter. 

      So, I went in and spoke with one of the community managers (it was a huge complex) and it worked! They charged me $100 for cleaning, and I got my $200 security deposit refund back a couple weeks later. Lesson learned: don’t start off on the defensive when someone is holding your money. If you’re reasonable, they can be reasonable too (most of the time).

      Renting can be expensive and most of us don’t want to rent forever. But you can always take these steps to protect yourself in the meantime. 

      How about you all? Do you have any great tips on getting your maximum security deposit back?

      Share your experiences by commenting below!

        ***Photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1365469

        How to Avoid Being Fleeced by Contractors

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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 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.


        If you’ve ever dealt with a bad contractor, you’ve learned the hard way that it’s crucial to vet the people you allow to work on your house. Shoddy work can come back to haunt you later on, resulting in extra costs and further damage, which an initially low quote won’t make better.

                    
        But, scam contractors are clever. They exist because they know how to push people’s buttons. How can homeowners protect themselves from being suckered into what seems like a great deal, only to realize their mistake too late?

                    
        Here are some of the top warning signs to look for when considering a contractor:

                    
        He does a surface inspection. Even if your repair or renovation seems like standard fair, a good contractor should do a thorough study of what will need to be done and then explain it to you. What’s the problem? What needs to be done, and how will he do it? Does he foresee any potential issues cropping up down the line? If he just does a quick once-over and says, “Yep, pretty basic…”, be wary.

                    
        You want to know a) that your contractor really does know how to handle this project, and b) that he’s willing to be upfront with you about the work involved so that you don’t get socked with any unexpected “extra” expenses as he starts working.

                    
        He won’t give you anything in writing. No matter the size of your project, your contractor should provide you with a detailed written estimate outlining all labor and parts costs anticipated, potential extra work that may need to be done and its cost, and several options if you’ve asked for price levels (say, premium counter tops versus basic ones).

                    
        If your guy gives you a verbal quote, insist he put it in writing. Anyone who’s hesitant to do so should be immediately scratched off your list.

                    
        He’s dismissive of the need to have permits. By law, contractors must have all applicable permits, licenses, and registrations for the types of work they perform in the towns they perform it. This is for homeowners’ protection, to ensure that contractors are properly insured and will do the work to code.

         You can verify whether your contractor’s permits are up to date by calling the building department of your town, city, or village. If your guy dismisses your project as “too small to need a permit” or tries to persuade you to take out a homeowner’s building permit (which places all the liability on you), send him packing.

         He uses pressure tactics. Shady contractors, just like shady salesmen, have plenty of tricks up their sleeves to force you to commit now, even if you’re not ready. If someone is dangling “limited time” promotions in your face, claiming you can get a massive discount because it’s their slow season (which is conveniently about to end), or pushing for financing options you don’t want to sign up for, it’s a sign that they’re not on the up and up.

         My husband and I once invited a pair of contractors to give us an estimate on our roof because we were trying to get an idea of how much we’d need to save up. (We didn’t plan on having the work done for a few years yet.) When we explained this to them, saying that we had some debts to pay down first, they actually tried to persuade us to take out a home equity line of credit on our house so they could do the work that week, while materials costs were still low.  (They were about to go way up, of course.) We showed them the door.

         He offers to do the work “off the books.” Never agree to pay a contractor under the table. He may claim he can give you a discount for paying in cash (without a written contract) because he works for a big contractor but is doing a little work on the side to earn some extra income for himself, etc., etc. But most likely, he’s trying to a) avoid having to pay taxes on his work, and/or b) avoid a written agreement that would hold him responsible for a certain level of work.

         He “just happens” to be in the neighborhood. Our house is in a predominantly older community; most of our neighbors are the original homeowners in their 70s and 80s. And I have never, in the dozen neighborhoods I’ve lived in, seen such an array of contractors and utility providers and cable companies trying to hock their services door-to-door. Why? Because my neighborhood is a prime target for people looking to talk their way into a shoddy deal.

         If someone comes to your door and can point to their company’s sign on your neighbor’s lawn, saying “We just did work over at the Jones’s and wanted to let you know we’re available,” this is potentially alright, and they should be happy to leave a card or a brochure with you and leave it at that. If someone shows up on your step saying, “I just finished a project around the corner and have all this material left over I need to unload. If you let me do your roof, I’ll give you a huge discount,” shut the door in his face. Legitimate contractors don’t buy way more material than they need for a project, and they certainly don’t go door to door trying to foist those materials off on random people on the spot. If it feels odd or off, it probably is.

        How about you all? Have you seen any other shady contractor tactics that homeowners should be wary of?

        Share your experiences by commenting below!

          ***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/tstadler/477625147/

          Couch Surfing – How Does it Work and Is it 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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          The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Shondell of Call Me What You Want, Even Cheap. She blogs about her recent car loan and mortgage pay off and a whole bunch more. Check out her blog right here.

          Last month, I wrote about house swapping, which is a fascinating way to travel and have the luxury of being in a home. There is also couch surfing, which is another great way to travel.

          Couch surfing is a common expression used to refer to home stay networks, accommodation sharing, and hospitality services. These groups are essentially comprised of a network of travelers who serve as guides or hosts for people who are visiting their country.

          Couch surfers are people who travel a lot. They love to see different places and meet people who share the same passion. Through the information and help that members get from the community, they get an inside look of the best places to visit and the most interesting things to do while in the city or country. The best part about couch surfing is that hosts allow travelers to stay at their homes during their visit.

          How It All Began

          In 1999, Casey Fenton came up with the Couch Surfing Project. The idea sprang from his experience when he found a cheap flight from Boston to Iceland. He sent random emails to students from the University of Iceland looking for a place to stay and got over 50 replies with students offering him accommodations. During his flight back to Boston, he started to develop the ideas which soon materialized as the Couch Surfing Project.

          During the early stages in 2004, the site had more than 6,000 members. The years that followed, he had an increasing number of members. By 2011, CouchSurfing became the most widely used free accommodation site with approximately one million active members.

          The Relationship Between the Hosts and the Surfers

          With couch surfing, the hosts act as the community’s backbone since they go to great lengths just to make travels easier and more convenient for the surfers. They provide a place to stay, meals, and even take the visitors out on tours. Surfers, on the other hand, are those who travel to many different places around the globe and make connections in a foreign land.

          Fees and Charges

          Unlike hotels that often charge exorbitant amounts, the accommodation and hospitality services offered by the hosts are absolutely free. Members who are reported charging their surfers would be eliminated from the community. Registration is also free. Members can post their pictures, the accommodations they offer and other information that would make them trustworthy.

          Verification of the Security of Members

          In terms of security, networking often establishes the reference. Several factors like gender, age, location and activity may also be considered by members who are looking for possible accommodations.

          The couch surfing community increases trust and security through three methods and these are all visible on the profiles of the members who will be the potential hosts or the surfers. It includes the following information:

          • A Personal Vouching Method

          This is where a member gets vouched by other members who had the chance to meet him or her through couch surfing. A member normally starts getting vouched from site founders. Being vouched for three times or more simply means that the person has already gained the trust of several others within the community.

          • Personal References

          After using the service, both surfers and hosts are given the option to leave personal references. The user may also give negative references if deemed necessary.

          • Credit Card Verification (Optional)

          Members may use credit card verification as a way of ensuring security while using the hospitality services offered by the couch surfing community. This is the primary income-generating source for the community. The verification fee may vary depending on the country of registration in order to promote economic fairness.

          Who Are Qualified to Become Ambassadors

          In general, any member who wants to help promote the services of the couch surfing community and volunteer for different duties on the site can become an ambassador. As ambassadors, the members are expected to act as role models and follow the group’s code of conduct. Ambassadors are delegated with certain tasks like welcoming new members, performing administrative roles, promoting the use of the site and answering questions from members.

          Over the years, the couch surfing community has developed a culture that aims to make travelers feel welcome and safe, even in a city far away from home. Those who want to feel more secure while enjoying their travels abroad would surely be thankful for the existence of such a community that offers hospitality services. If you love to travel and see the beauty of the world at a lesser cost, couch surfing would be a great option for you.

          How about you all? Have you ever couch surfed? If so, how did you like it? 

           Share your experiences by commenting below!

            ***Photo courtesy of http://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2012/04/13/11/50/sleeping-32057_640.png

            Living Like No One Else, So Later We Can Live Like No One Else

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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 post is by MPFJ staff writer, Melissa Batai. Melissa is a freelance writer who covers topics ranging from personal finance to business to organics to food.  She blogs at Mom’s Plans, where she shares her family’s journey to healthier living and paying down debt.

            My husband and I have approximately $47,000 in debt between his student loans, my student loans, and one credit card. We don’t yet own a house. Did I mention we have 3 kids?
            Our money is very tight.
             

            Rebounding from Very Limited Income

            Last year, our income tax return showed that in 2011, we made a little more than half the U.S. Census Bureau’s calculation of the average American’s income of $52,762.

            Part of the reason our income was so low was because I launched a new freelance writing career, and my husband was finishing his Ph.D. 

            Money was VERY tight for both 2010 and 2011, which is part of the reason we now have debt.  Honestly, though, another part of the reason we have so much debt is because we weren’t as careful financially as we should have been. 

            We weren’t as careful as we are being now.



            The Future Looks Bright

            A few years in, my career is growing, and my business has doubled each year for the past two years.
            My husband is in a post-doc research position which gives him both a decent salary and training to land a tenure track position.  When he finds that tenure track job in a few years, his salary will double. 
            There will be a time, not too far in the future, when we will have a very comfortable income. 

            That time just isn’t here yet. 

            However, we are getting some breathing room; our tax returns this year will show that we are finally at the median income level.


            Living Like No One Else

            Listeners of Dave Ramsey will know the phrase, “Live like no one else so later you can live like no one else.”  Basically, he is saying, sacrifice now and live your life like no one else does, and later you will have wealth and can live your life more financially secure than others can.

            We’ve learned from our past mistakes, and we’re now not spending money we don’t have.  Even though our income has grown, we still have to pay the piper, so to speak.

            Since we were so broke before, we put off things.  We have an 8.5 year old car with 113,000 miles on it.  We put off any non-necessary car repairs for over a year, and now we can’t put them off any longer.  We need to find $2,000 to replace the bald tires, change the spark plugs and brakes, and add brake fluid, to name just a few of the repairs.

            Our television, that we have had for 12 years, just died.  We don’t have the luxury of replacing it right now.
            The engine in our hand mixer also just burned out this week.

            Our blender is a garage sale find that I bought 14 years ago for $3.  It is on its last legs, as is our microwave.
            Our car’s automatic door no longer opens.  We can’t replace it right now.

            Our couch is 9 years old and is definitely no longer as comfortable as it used to be.

            Our dining room table, which we bought 13 years ago for $25 at a consignment shop, only seats 4.  We have 4 mismatched chairs, and my husband pulls up a folding chair that is missing the back.  It fell off a few months ago.

            I have recently lost a lot of weight, and I don’t have the luxury of going on a big shopping spree for clothes.  Instead, we shopped at Goodwill and spent $50 on clothes that fit my new size.


            Finding Power in Living Like No One Else

            Sometimes, it literally feels like everything is breaking at once, and we have no money to replace or fix items.  Of course, we could replace things by charging them, but that would only compound our problem.  We won’t do that again.

            It’d be easy to be depressed, but instead, we’re encouraged.

            Because we’re being smart and conservative with our money now, we know better times are ahead.  We’ll happily scrimp now and work on paying down debt.  Then, when we’re earning a good salary 3 years from now, we’ll be very comfortable.  We’ll probably look back on this time and laugh. 

            I’m happy to live like no one else right now so later we can live like no one else.
            How about you all? How far have you gone to live like no one else while paying down debt?

            Share your experiences by commenting below!

              ***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/irrezolut/5662003627/sizes/m/

              When To Buy Name Brand Products and When You’re Just Buying the Name

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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 post by MPFJ staff writer, SK. SK writes about the reasons we get into debt, changing the patterns that get us into debt, and examines small business ownership and real estate investing at her blog, American Debt Project.
              Somewhere along the way, I became an expert shopper. I know way too much about sales, price points, aspirational marketing, and what different brands signify. I can’t help analyzing details in every situation, and shopping was a fun way to put my analytical mind to use. Sure, I went overboard with it for a while, but that’s all behind me now. These days, I can simply enjoy finding the best products for the lowest prices, knowing when to bother to comparison shop and understanding that just because it’s on sale, doesn’t mean you have to buy it. 

              Here are a few of my best tips to help you decide when you should buy a brand name product and when to skip the fancy packaging that’s housing a product identical to the generic brand.

              Condiments

              Sorry, Safeway. But your store brand condiments taste either awful or like nothing at all. When it comes to ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise, the biggest names can’t be beat. Give me a bottle of Heinz ketchup and Hellmann’s any day! And, with an item that you don’t need to buy every week, the cost savings would have been negligible.

              Tools

              I don’t know that much about tools, but I know enough not to buy Harbor Freight. This ultra-cheap brand is like the Big Lots of tool companies. Yeah, you can buy a skillsaw for like 1/5th the price of a Makita. But there’s a reason for that. The reason being that it will break down after about the fifth time you use it. Save your money by either renting tools, buying used or buying a durable brand from Sears or your local hardware store.


              Over the Counter Drugs

              Do you buy Aleve or the private label naproxen sodium tablets that are conveniently located right next to the Aleve tablets? The cost of the name brand medication can sometimes be twice as much. As my pharmacist cousin says, there is no chemical difference between the generic and name-brand medications (and the FDA requires the generic medication to be identical or near-identical to the name brand counterpart), and you are generally paying for the R&D and marketing costs of the brand name when you buy the Tylenol, Advil or other well-known brand.


              Diamonds and Fine Jewelry 

              If every man and woman simply scrubbed the effect of Cartier and Tiffany advertising from their minds, we’d all be a lot richer (except for the owners and employees of Cartier and Tiffany). Despite my shopping expertise, I knew very little about diamonds and fine jewelry until recently. Now that I am in the happy period of engagement and looking at settings for my diamond, I am floored by the retail markup on diamond jewelry in any store that is brand name, from the high-end Cartier and Tiffany to the lower-end Kay, Zales and Helzberg stores. 

              If you go to an independent jeweler, a diamond district, or even better, a jeweler you know or have been referred to, you can find the same pieces for a fraction of the price, and often created with more attention to detail and artwork. You have to know their language from the 4 C’s and the importance of certification, but it will be well worth it in the end to get more for your money and a unique piece that can’t be picked up from just any mall store.  There are also certain online resources (like Pricescope) that will give you a wealth of information to keep you from wasting thousands of dollars.

              How about you all? When do you insist on buying name brand and when do you insist on buying the generic stuff?

              Share your experiences by commenting below!

                ***Photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1411312

                Save Money on Valentine’s Day by Celebrating a Day Later

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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 post is by MPFJ staff writer Travis. Travis is a customer blogger for CareOne 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.

                I walked out of the kitchen of the restaurant I was working at, and went behind the counter to refill my mug with soda.  As I turned around, I saw my best friend’s parents sitting in the corner booth staring at their food, then they looked up at me.
                “I hope YOU didn’t make this food, Travis,” they said.

                It was my first day training in to be a short order cook, and I certainly had made their food.  It was Father’s Day and the restaurant was a complete madhouse. During the three years I worked at the restaurant, I witnessed this phenomenon many times.  On holidays, the restaurant would be packed to capacity for hours, with a line of people stretched out the door.  It never seemed like enough staff was on duty, and the food and service ended up being sub-par.
                Valentine’s day is coming up, and across the globe, people like you and I will be making reservations to treat their significant other to a romantic meal.  Restaurants will be overrun with couples looking to celebrate their love for each other, only to be seated in the cold booth next to the door, and be served food that was sitting in the kitchen window for 10 minutes because that’s the soonest the overworked server could get to it.
                Nothing says “You’re special” like a cold, overcooked steak.

                The meal is just a single component of the Valentine’s Day gift requirement that has been plainly stated in small print in the relationship contract (have you ever read the fine print?).  Flowers, candy, chocolates, and a stuffed animal, preferably a bear, with some sort of mushy, cutely spelled phrase are all required.
                I Wuv You, Too.

                All of this can can put a significant dent in your funds.  You want to put the love of your life on the pedestal they deserve.  You want them to feel admired, adored, and loved.  But if you’re like me, you don’t like standing in line to eat for an hour, and your funds run out long before your ideas.  Fear not, my friends, I have a very simple solution for you. 
                Move your celebration of Valentine’s Day to February 15th.

                Here’s why:
                ·           Restaurants will be less busy:  A huge percentage of the population just went out to eat the night before, and will be staying home.  Restaurants will be better equipped to handle the customer load.  Your wait will be shorter (or non-existent), the service will be better, and so will your food.
                ·           Flowers back to normal cost:  A local flower shop near my home has a sign that advertises a dozen roses for $9.99.  The week leading up to Valentine’s Day the sign is changed to $29.99.  The day after V-day it’s back to $9.99.
                ·           Post V-day Discounts:  Valentine themed items such as candy, stuffed animals, and cards are discounted deeply the day after.  Shower your Valentine with as much post holiday pink and red gifts that you can get your hands on at a fraction of the cost.
                You do have to practice a little bit of discretion, however. Saying you want to move the day to make it less of a hassle and to save money makes you come off as uncaring and cheap.
                It also kills the romance.

                Instead, tell your loved one that they are so special that they deserve their very own day.  February 15th is a Valentine’s Day just for them.  Tell them that they don’t deserve to wait in line with everyone else for their dinner, they deserve to sit right down.  Tell them they deserve to be showered with gifts.  All of this can happen, if you celebrate Valentine’s Day one day later.
                Then cross your fingers, and hope they go with it.
                How about you all?  Do you think your significant other would agree to celebrate Valentine’s Day a day later to save money? 

                Share your experiences by commenting below!

                  ***Image courtesy of Master isolated images, / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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