Impulse Buying - Stop It Now!

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Impulse buying could be a very bad thing for the frugal minded.  It is the desire to have something immediately, then most likely regretting the purchase later.  In other words, one did not think it through when they made such purchase.  You buy because you may be afraid of missing out or you are addicted to shopping and the rush makes you feel good.

I have done that in the past; bought a piece of real estate in Arizona on eBay.  Bought a bunch of old lunch boxes to start a collection because I saw some in a museum.  This list goes on.  I wanted a Ronald McDonald stature sitting on a bench or the Sinclair Dinosaur that you see at the gas stations.  But I have stopped myself.

Why? Because the thrill of the purchase fades quickly and you are in possession of something that you may not want later and will regret it.

But if you want to save money and not waste it, then do what I have done.

Write what you want down, don’t buy it.  Look at your list in three days.  Do you still want it?  Look again in thirty days.  Do you really need it?  Think about what you could do with this money otherwise.  That usually helps me.

Stay away from shopping websites, especially the auction sites.  Reward yourself for not making an impulse buy.  An ice cream works for me!

Plan ahead, save in advance for things you need.  Write it all down, review it, then review it again.  Is it worth it? Is it needed?  Can you live without it?

I find I feel better not buying something I wanted just for that quick joy.  Saving money for my future is a much bigger joy.

Squeezing pennies out of a gift card

What would you do if you found a gas gift card sitting on top of the pump?  Would you assume it was used up and leave it? Or would you take it and check the balance?  Guess, what I did.  I took it and logged on the website and found out it has a balance of $1.61.

If you found that out, would you toss it or use it?  It is not even a gallon of gas and maybe not worth it.  Too me, it is.  I used it with a $5.00 gift card I had won to put gas in our car.  Every little bit helps this frugal man.

It reminds me of the times I used to travel into NYC and see tossed metro cards around.  I would pick them up and scan them.  Most didn’t have a balance, but sometimes there would one.  Did you know that that you can take metro cards with a balance to the subway station booth and the agent would combine them all into one card?  I did this a few times also.  It’s like picking up loose change from the ground.  I do that too.  Before we left NYC, it was harder to find those cards because I believe now they charge $1.00 for a new card.  What a scam!  I have been away from New York in almost three years but still have my metro card.  It is expired, yes, but if and when I visit again, I will get a new one without having to pay that one dollar fee.

July Passive Income Recap

July was better than June for my passive income. A total of 11.8% increase and not in dividends.  Slowly, but surely, I want to increase my passive income and hopefully my dividend income.  With a total of $654, it could someday take care of a rent/mortgage payment.

And another $30 in gift cards which is surely helping the Christmas budget.  Speaking of budgets, we have finally started tracking our monthly expenses.  Between July and August, we went on vacation so I am not confident of the numbers yet.  I will need a few more months to evaluate them.

Lastly, our net worth increased 1.85% from July and 16.43% from this time last year.  This makes me very, very happy!

Until next month.

Cutting Cable Out of Our Lives

Yesterday, we returned out cable box and cancelled our service.  No more cable in our household.  We didn’t have a special channels or packages, just basic cable for two televisions.  But all we watched were two channels (CBS and AMC).  So why keep it?  We already have Amazon Prime (the money we save on shipping and no we can watch free movies), Netflix and added Sling TV (family account so no charge for either) when we purchased a Roku.  Actually, two of them but one was free by using points the other cost $31 with tax.  That’s only a
one time charge.

What are we saving?  $88.88 a month.  That is a total of $1,066.56 a year that can now go into savings.  I never thought we’d do it.  We don’t need to be addicted to cable television and neither should you?  There are so many options and I am glad we did it.  Have you?

Charlie Finance Co

Have you heard about Charlie?  It is personal financial assistant, ready to look out for you 24/7. I constantly monitor your transactions, finding you ways to save money, cut expenses, and understand your spending. With me on your side, you can spend less time worrying about money and more time enjoying life.  But it is not an app.  It is a website.

I recently came across this or someone sent it to me and I started to research it.  Has anyone out there have had experience with it?

It is a bot that helps you keep track of your finances and makes suggestions for you.  One signs up with their phone number or through Facebook Messenger at hicharlie.co.  You have to link your bank account. How else could they monitor your expenses?  I’m a weary about that.

You don’t make money.  Charlie is free to use, but it helps you save money, I guess.

This is something for people that don’t know how to handle money.  People who are too lazy to learn to track their spending.  I am not one of those people.  I have been monitoring my expenses for as long as I can remember and don’t need a bot to assist me.

They do have good reviews though.

What are your thoughts?

Restaurant.com $25 Gift Certificate GIVEAWAY

I am giving away a $25 gift certificate to Restaurant.com (actually it is a code that you can use and redeem on restaurant.com)  There are a few ways to enter:

1) Follow this blog (somewhere on the right is an icon to allow followers) Please comment below that you have done so

2) Follow by e-mail (also on the right of this blog is that option) Please comment below that you have done so.

3) Follow me on Twitter and retweet the giveaway post.  All retweets will be considered an entry in this giveaway.

4) Share this post on social media and comment below that you have done so.

5) Like my Facebook page and comment below that you have done so.

Open to US residents only and ends on August 31, 2018 at midnight EST.

Thanks!

Sample Storm and Lucky Samples

This post does not contain any affiliated links.  It's all my rambling. 

I’ve been a member of Sample Storm for as long as I’ve been on the Internet and its sister site Lucky Samples when it was created.  It’s been years and all I’ve collected is points.  What can you do with those points?  Well, you can get rewards such as cash, gift cards, magazine subscriptions and restaurant.com certificates.  I’ve yet to see cash and gift cards become available and I am not interested in restaurant.com or magazines.  I believe they used to have different rewards, but it’s been so long, I can’t recall.

You can also request samples (and if you read some comments, many people don’t get them), coupons (you can get coupons from many sites).  There are also contests and games and trivia questions you can participate in to collect points.

I have become disillusioned with both sites and will discontinuing visiting them.  Now, what to do with all those points?

I would love to hear from others and their experiences with these sites.  So, if you have had good, bad or mediocre experience, please leave a comment.

Until next time.