Tag Savings

Reuse it or lose it

Michael 4 Comments

Are you a recycler? There are recyclers and then there are re-recyclers. And don’t forget the upcyclers. I might be a little of all but mostly I’m a re-recycler. That’s where I’m doing my most to save the planet. Actually, if I’m going to be really, super honest, that’s where I’m doing my most to save a few bucks, the planet comes along for the ride. Let me explain.

Recycling is what we do with our blue bins and our bottles and cans and papers and cardboard. If you’re lucky enough to live somewhere where the recycling agent accepts glass, plastic, carboard, and paper you’ve got it made because that’s the most of it anyway right. Once a quarter some organization will have a program that will accept your extruded polystyrene, household chemicals, and electronics, but if you stick to the four basic food groups, er, if you stick to the big four, as far as I’m concerned, you’re doing your part. ‘Nuff said on that.

Upcyclers are the creatives of the recycling world. They can look at a TV stand, a stained chunk of kitchen tile, and a garden hose and say “Gee that would make a great a wet bar” and do it, and add an integrated wine rack, wine and beer coolers, and cheese platter with a well for a fondu pot and skewer storage. Damn they’re good.

I fall in between. I’m a re-recycler. I’ll find an old TV stand and turn it into a different color TV stand. I believe recycling doesn’t stop at getting rid of stuff from your home but not putting it in the trash. It’s donating it to charity run thrift stores, consigning it to second hand shops, or giving it away through neighborhood apps, Facebook groups, web communities, or the old stick it on the curb with a “free to a good home” sign. Then when somebody like me needs a new stand for his toaster oven, or a new toaster oven, he’s likely to shop first at the thrift store to see what can be given a new life.

lampI thought of all this last week when my daughter asked me if I’d like a stand to hold my herb pots in the kitchen, she found one on the curb. My first thought was “damn I’m glad that apple didn’t fall far from its tree.” My second thought was to run right over there and get it.

A lot of stuff that people don’t want still has lots of life left. Usually just a little cleaner is all it takes to have them looking good enough for company. Right now I have several kitchen small appliances, a mug holder, a table lamp in the living room, a floor lamp in my office, the stand for my keyboard, a small bookcase, and the office worktable courtesy of several thrift stores, and a roll of sound insulation that I’m working into a podcast booth that I found in front of one of the buildings here marked “free if you want it.” A couple old favorites of mine at the house were an arbor made from an old brass headboard and an end table for the sunroom fashioned out of 4 shutters and some plywood leftover from an old project. When I get tired of these or almost anything else, I make a drop-off trip to the local charity.

Re-recycling may not for everybody. Out and out upcycling is beyond a lot of people’s capabilities, certainly mine. But providing the raw material isn’t. The next time you have a TV cart or a garden hose that you don’t want anymore, donate it to a thrift shop, or put it out with a sign for somebody to take. Don’t jus throw them away. There could be a wet bar out there waiting to happen that just needs a little help from you.

Saving Congress

Michael 1 Comment

Did you get your deal on Amazon Prime Days. Maybe you picked picked up a special price on a Summer Black Friday at Best Buy. Or maybe you’re still cashing in on the Christmas in July savings at Target. As a consumer nation we are nothing if we aren’t a bunch of sheep.

That’s really not a horrible thing. I picked up a collector edition of a book I’ve been eyeing on a Thrift Books this week while grabbing a couple kitchen gadgets at Macy’s.com. Following the path of a bunch of other bargain hunters chasing sales thought up by other companies at another time of the year saved me over $70. That’s a month Internet service.

Unfortunately as a nation we are still a bunch of sheep when it comes to things like political alliances. I’m sure other than for George Washington and probably Gerald Ford, political mudslinging at our highest offices has been going on since the 1700s. (George and Jerry get excluded because neither one really had aspirations of becoming President as much as just were the benefactors (or victims) of circumstances. Recently though through the “miracle” of social media can the common man act as stupid as the ones we elect to office. In the years that started with a “1” it took organized efforts and multiple layers of volunteers to get people to believe their preferred politician was one miracle short of sainthood. Today that happens with blinding speed matched only by the efforts to convince followers that their least favorite politician is two steps ahead of the devil for the race to evil emperor.

We no longer care about right or wrong, truth or lie, sense or nonsense. If we read it on-line, particularly if it was posted by somebody we know well to have had a drink with or want to know well enough to buy a round of drinks for, we eat it up like sugar coated, double dipped, sprinkle laden ice cream in a waffle cone. I’m quite convinced many of not most of us know the tenets of the political party with which we identify or the actual background of its “stars players.” In my state a bill passed by the state legislature that, among other reforms including the purchase of new voting machines (which it could ill afford financially) was vetoed by the governor because it also called for the elimination of the single lever straight party voting option. Considering how Congress has itself voted with a straight party mentality for this century that shouldn’t have been a surprise coming from a politician.

I think I have a solution that can actually result in more amicable relations among all parties (apparent there actually are more than two), eliminate party voting mentality, and save us enough money to actually pay for things like health care, infrastructure, or education.

First we eliminate Congress. That’s not exactly right, we eliminate the Congressional presence in Washington. Since they have clearly demonstrated since 2001 that our elected officials – Representatives and Senators – vote en bloc however the leaders want them to vote there is no need for them in Washington. They can stay in their districts were they can actually serve the people by helping with disability forms, selecting Medicare supplement plans, and going to the occasional Fourth of July picnic. Back in Washington each house gets two representatives, one from each party who can hash out their own deals and compromises without the distraction of party rhetoric.

Second we forbid all elected officials from using social media and prepared press releases. If anybody wants to communicate with their constituents, and it is only their constituents they should be communicating with, they must do it in person. Because all but four representatives will be in their home districts that will not pose any burden. Further, if somebody already elected to an office wants to give up that office to run for another office, then he or she or other must actually give up their office. No ignoring their work so they can apply for another job.

Now here’s where the real fun stuff happens. Did you know the average average salary for the rank and file Congressman is $174,000. Majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate make $193,400. The Speaker of the House is the highest paid member of Congress at $223,500. (These are 2016 figures. A handful of websites reporting these salaries mention these salaries are comparable to mid-level managers in the private sector. They go on to say that Congress has not accepted a raise since 2009. I was firmly in the middle of mid level management and I can tell you I would have had to work almost two full years before I made $174,000 in 2009 dollars.) In addition, Congressmen are permitted to make up to 15% of their salary from outside salary sources like with the law firm they all seem to still belong to. There is no limit on non-salary sources of income such as interest, dividends, and honoraria. And of course they all get money to run their offices.

The staff allowance for members of the House of Representatives depends on the size of his district which is determined by the official U. S. Census but in 2016 the average allowance was $1,268,520. That’s not the total. That’s per representative. That’s almost 1.3 million dollars. Times 435 representatives that’s $551.8 million dollars. That’s over a half a billion dollars. For office expenses. Per year. Senators in 2016 averaged $3,306,570 allowance per Senator. The math here is pretty simple. That comes out to $330,657,000 for the full senate. Every year we spend over $882 million to staff representatives’ offices. If we eliminate half of their offices by limiting Congressional work to the local office that will save us $441 million.

And finally, because they all like to remind us of what our founding fathers meant when they said something, they should be paid like them. Not in 1789 dollars. That would be cruel. In 1789 a Senator only made $50 a day and had to cover his own expenses except for postage for official correspondence. They did get lunch though. Note that salary was not per year or per session, it was per day. Today’s Congress should be paid likewise. When a member shows up he or she or undecided can punch a clock and get paid for the days worked. Assuming 225 working days per year. That’s $773 per day. I think that’s more than fair. But since 2001 Congress has average only 138 legislative days per year the average Congressman can expect to take in about $107,000 per year. This will save us $35,845,000. Added to the $441 million we already saved we are now $477 million ahead.

That’s close enough to a half a billion for me. That’s about as much as the CDC gets for immunization research. Congress  might not still be worth the trouble they cause but maybe now we can find a cure for them!

Coming soon…Fixing the Presidency.

Capitol

Join the Club

Michael Leave a comment

Last week was special for me. I got mail, real USPS delivered mail that wasn’t addressed to “occupant,” wasn’t a bill, and didn’t include a detailed accounting of all medical procedures from the previous month. Oh, and it wasn’t a Christmas card either although we’re getting to that time when all the businesses I deal with send their cards out. After those come the cards from real people. But I digress. But that’s not unusual.

So, back to my tale, the mail came and therein was an envelope and within was a check. Not a bill. A check! Somebody was giving me money! It wasn’t a lot but it was mine. Coming to me. Income, not outlay. I felt so special. I practically beamed!

Now to be perfectly honest, this wasn’t anything unheard of. It happened before. In fact, it usually happens about once a year. The check in question was a disbursement from my insurance company. (Home and auto, not health or life. Those guys never give anything back. Well, technically life insurance does, but it’s usually too late to be much use.) Usually around this time each year I get a little check from the insurance company that reflects something they saved because they had fewer claims than they expected or some such thing. I don’t understand. I just spend. It’s like a Christmas Club.

ChristmasBankAh ha! Now we get to the heart of this post. Christmas Clubs. Do they even still exist. Those of you under 40 may have to find an even older adult to explain Christmas Clubs, right along with Broken Records. To be fair to the financial institutions of America, most credit unions still offer Christmas Clubs although Vacation Clubs are by far more popular. But neither have the favor they did before the credit card explosion of the early 1970s.

So when I opened the mail that day last week and pulled out that little check, my first thought was, “Wow, just like a Christmas Club.” My second thought was, “Wow, just like a Christmas Club.” My third thought was, “Okay, now you’re sounding like a broken record.”

And then I went out and spent.

 

 

They’re At It Again

Michael Leave a comment

About a year ago I posted a post where I posited that we all could make a nice piece of change by buying car insurance (see “Buy, Save, Repeat,” Jan, 15, 2015). There’s another opportunity out there just waiting to be taken advantage of – cell phone service.

Yesterday’s haul of junk mail included six (6!) offers of fabulous savings just waiting to be doled out in exchange for trading in my current cell service. Offers included a flat rate offer of $20/month and another of $30/month, one with a free phone and one with two free phones, one with a new phone, one with savings of up to 60% off, and one for half of whatever I might be paying now.

I did a little figuring and if I trade in my phone for the new service with 2 new phones then switch to the $20/month plan for each of those then take 60% off and finally move on to the half of what I would then currently be paying I could get service for $6/month and end up with an extra phone that I could sell.

Makes you wonder how these guys stay in business.

That’s what I think. Really. How ‘bout you?

 

Buy, Save, Repeat

Michael 2 Comments

Congratulations!  You are about to discover a sure fire way of making money at home.  No, it’s not stuffing envelopes or even the twenty-first century equivalent, sending out serial e-mails.  No, it’s not completing surveys or even the old-fashioned equivalent, convincing patsies that they can make money by giving others their opinions.  It’s not coupon clipping, rebate responding, or cyber shopping.  It’s insurance!  Specifically, auto insurance.

Lately my mailboxes, old-fashioned and new-fangled, have become repositories for solicitations to change my car insurance.  I’ve had the same insurance for over 20 years and they say that is when one should seriously consider switching.  Complacency builds and what was a bargain then can be a wallet buster now.  So I took a good look at some of the offers and discovered that there indeed was money to be saved.  In fact, there was money to be made.

Every offer had some huge savings that I was overlooking.  There were savings of $400, $450, even $500 to be had.  There were premiums as low as $19 per month.  There were offers of 75% off of what I am currently paying. It didn’t matter if it was a big company, little company, on-line only, or multi-service.  The insurance version of the name brands – Liberty Mutual, Travelers, Nationwide – were represented.  The ones nobody had ever heard of but sounding like the name brands – Safeco, National, 21st Auto – were there.  The ones with cute ads – Farmers, GEICO, Progressive – were in on it too.  Everybody wanted to save me money!  Everyone from Allstate to State Farm had cash to offer. How nice of them.

So, here is the plan.  Step one, switch to one of the low premium companies.  The best plan is to replace my current insurance with one that has a monthly premium of the low, low price of $19.  Once that’s established, trade it in for 75% savings over my now new cost for a newer, lower, lower outlay that comes out to the remarkably low, low, even lower as in less than $5 per month.  Now, switch to the dollar savings that range from $415, to $450, to $500 for a total savings of $1365.  Subtract the $5 premium payment and we net an income of $1, 360!  There are enough companies offering these fantastic savings that we can do this at least three times for a total money haul of over $4,000.  That’s a used car.  Not a very good one but a car just the same.  And where there’s a car there’s a need for car insurance.

Car insurance, – a sure fire way of making money at home.  Buy, save, repeat.  You gotta love it!

Now, that’s what I think. Really. How ‘bout you?

 

How to retire on a million dollars a day

Michael Leave a comment

We know our reader demographics fairly well and unless there might be a huge chunk of you who have retired early we’d say most of those who read (and write) these posts are quite some time from taking a permanent vacation.  At least by American standards which are now reaching closer to not beginning until age 67 and certainly even later for those with birth dates from the 1990’s.

Not so long ago on one of the television financial “news” programs, the hostess repeated her oft told opinion that if one plans on a happy and successful retirement, he or she must have at least a million dollars in a retirement account.  Even though we aren’t close to retirement we also aren’t close to having a million dollars in any account, particularly not one that will be left untouched for quite a few years yet to come.  Had we a million dollars in all of our combined accounts we’d probably die of shock and never get around to the retirement anyway.

Where, we would like to know, with houses costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, cars costing tens of thousands of dollars, and bacon costing $4.00 a pound, does one manage to cut back sufficiently to save a million dollars.  We suppose if we were a television host and hostess and making six or seven million dollars a year, we could easily scrape up a million in 40 years of working.  We might even save a few bucks from the radio shows, books, syndicated newspaper columns, and commercial endorsements.  We might be able to save a million dollars for every year of retirement.  Maybe for every day!  But we aren’t.  And we suspect if you are reading this (please, we mean not to pry) you probably aren’t saving at that rate either.

As we said, we aren’t close to retirement ourselves but we know many people who have retired.  Some at the traditional retirement age, some a little earlier, some a little later.  The one thing they all had in common is that they didn’t have a million dollars saved and yet they have managed to live happy and successful retirement lives.  How does one do it living in such abject poverty that comes with having less than a million?  Let’s start with having the big things paid for before hitting retirement.  The mortgages are gone.  New car warranties of 10 years or 100,000 miles are used in entirety.  Clothes last for more than one season.  Dinners out are held to no more than once a week, sometimes even less.  Vacations are instead long weekends.  Credit cards are for true emergencies.  Better still, hard won savings are for true emergencies.  Frugal is not a bad word.  It can be done.

Will anybody ever really need a million dollars to retire?  Probably to the financial pundits who in their working lives are making six or seven million dollars a year, a million seems to be the bare minimum.  Thank goodness they’ll still be eligible for social security.

Now, that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you?