Today’s Deals: McDonald’s, Denny’s, and Free Slurpies
I subscribe to the promotional emails of hundreds of companies so you don’t have to. I sift through 1,000 deal-touting emails every week. Most are worthless. But some offer valuable coupons, promo codes, sales, and freebies – which I collect and organize here and on our deals page.
Note: Expiration dates are in brackets.
Dessert places
- Bruster’s Real Ice Cream: 50 cents off any item (print first) [5/31].
Restaurants
- Blimpie: Free 6-inch sub with the purchase of one sub and a drink (“like” and print first) [expiration unknown].
- Boston Market: 10 percent off a $100-plus catering order (print first) [7/1].
- Boston’s The Gourmet Pizza: They have eight new lunch entrees for $7 each between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. [expiration unknown].
- Carl’s Jr.: $1 off any southwest patty melt combo (print first) [5/20].
- Denny’s: 20 percent off your entire check (print first) [5/23].
- Denny’s: Free double-chocolate pancake puppies sundae with peanut butter sauce with the purchase of an entree (print first) [5/26].
- Cattle Company Steakhouse: $5 in free bonus bucks for every $50 you spend on gift cards online [6/17]. Shipping is free if you spend $50-plus.
- Jack in the Box: Jack’s Value Meal is now $3.50 [expiration unknown]. It includes chicken nuggets, a Jr. Jack burger, fries, and a drink.
- McDonald’s: $1 off the new berry cherry chiller (print first – click on the pink “$1 OFF” button). They release a fixed number of coupons each day, so if the coupon isn’t available when you click on it, try again the next day.
- Mimi’s Cafe: $5 off a $25-plus family meal-to-go purchase (print first) [5/31].
- O’Charley’s: 10 percent off for military members with ID on Armed Forces Day [5/19 only].
- Papa Murphy’s Pizza: $2 off any size pizza (print first) [5/31].
- Quiznos: Free drink plus free chips or a dessert with the purchase of a large sub or salad (print first) [5/23].
- Sonic: Soda, iced tea, limeade, and slushes are 50 percent off between 2 and 4 p.m. [expiration unknown].
- Souper Salad: Unlimited $5 buffets (print first) [5/20]. This one coupon buys everybody in your party a $5 buffet, whether you dine in or carry out – and the coupon can be reused.
- Tony Roma’s: $5 off a $20-plus purchase [expiration unknown].
Stores
- 7-Eleven (convenience stores): Free small slurpie between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. on Wednesday [5/23 only].
- Fresh Easy Neighborhood Market (grocery store): $6 off a $30-plus purchase (print first) [5/22].
- RaceTrac (convenience stores): Free roller grill item (print first) [expiration unknown].
- Whole Foods Market: Ready-to-cook beef burgers are $1 today [5/18 only].
Karla Bowsher runs our deals page and covers consumer, retail, and health issues. If you have a comment, suggestion, or question, leave a comment or contact her at karla@moneytalksnews.com.
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4 Weird Ways to Get a Job
Employment experts tell the unemployed and newly graduated to be “creative” and “stand out” if they want to find work. That usually means writing a punchier cover letter or coming up with a fascinating story to tell during a job interview. But with college graduation ceremonies happening around the country this week and last, these truly strange employment success stories might spark some inspired ideas of your own…
1. Advertise yourself
Last month, an unemployed casino worker in Minnesota took a $300 gamble: He paid for an eight-second rotating slot on a Minneapolis digital billboard. For 24 hours, the billboard featured the smiling face of 22-year-old Bennett Olson, a link to his website, and the words “HIRE ME!” The gamble paid off: MSNBC reports Olson was hired just last week. He starts soon at Laser Design GKS Services, a 3D scanning company in Bloomington, Minn.
Cost: Olson’s eight-second slot on a digital board cost $300 for a day, but prices vary by market, and there may be required minimums. For instance, national outdoor ad agency Blue Line Media charges $3,500 for an 8-second ad running for four weeks in select markets.
2. Sell yourself
David Wood was 43 when he lost his sales job in Bristol, England, and he couldn’t find work for two years. He never stopped applying, but he wasn’t getting any offers – so he did something drastic. He decided to really sell himself. Literally. In March last year, he posted this ad on eBay: “For Sale an Experienced Sales Representative… A 1965 model who is enthusiastic and motivated.” While there’s no news yet if Wood has found a job, he did get profiled by one of England’s biggest newspapers, The Daily Mail. As they say, that’s publicity you can’t buy.
Cost: It’s generally free to make an eBay listing if you’re not a heavy seller. If Wood’s auction garnered any bids, there would’ve been a percentage fee on the final price, but the original listing is no longer up. The maximum final fee is $250.
3. Learn how to sign
In 2008, Paul Nawrocki was a 59-year-old toy industry executive, but he wasn’t playing around when he took to the streets of New York wearing a suit, tie, and sandwich board sign that read, “Almost homeless. Looking for employment. Very experienced operations and administration manager.” It took a couple of years and a makeover, but Nawrocki was eventually hired as the director of operations for Fantasma Toys, a New York company specializing in magic tricks.
Cost: A wearable sandwich board runs about $60 plus shipping, but you can probably make your own cheaper.
4. Stalk your ideal boss
It’s hard to say whether this is creepy or smart, but 28-year-old copywriter Alec Brownstein wanted to make an impression. So in 2010, he bought Google ads based on the names of bosses he wanted to work for. His logic: Everybody Googles their own name occasionally, and when these bosses did, they’d see an ad speaking directly to them – and begging for a job. Brownstein told tech website Mashable, “I wanted to invade that secret, egotistical moment when [the creative directors I admired] were most vulnerable.” Four of the five gave him a call, and two offered him a job.
Cost: $6 in Brownstein’s case, at 15 cents per click. More popular keywords will cost more.
Not crazy enough to try these ideas? Check out 4 Places for Free Job Training.
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Make Your Own Detergent and 20 Other Tips to Save on Laundry
Ever look at the label on your laundry detergent? Every so often it reads, “New Improved!” But when you stop to think about it, how new is soap? And how do you improve it?
That’s a financial question as well as a philosophical one. A typical American family does about 400 loads of laundry every year – or about eight loads a week, according to the California Energy Commission.
And it isn’t cheap. Laundry detergent alone costs about 20 cents per load. Add that up and you’re spending $80 a year on soap. But you don’t have to.
In the video below, Money Talks News founder Stacy Johnson explains how you can save 90 or even 100 percent on laundry detergent. Check it out, then read on for more ways to save on laundry day…
Click to play ‘How to Make Your Own Laundry Detergent’
Check out the recipe for homemade laundry detergent below, plus more tips for saving – while washing and drying…
1. Skip the detergent
Want to save 100 percent on laundry detergent? Don’t use any at all. Modern washing machines work by agitating laundry in water. The agitation is enough to clean lightly soiled clothing. Don’t believe that? The blog Funny about Money conducted just such an experiment and concluded, “By and large, all of the freshly washed clothing came out with an odor: It smelled of clean water!”
2. Make your own detergent
When you do need detergent, you can save about 90 percent by making your own. Stacy gave you this recipe in the video:
Ingredients
- 1 bar of soap
- 3 gallons plus 4 cups of water
- 1 cup borax
- ½ cup washing soda
Directions
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Grate the bar of soap with a cheese grater. Drop the pieces into the boiling water and cook until the soap dissolves. Pour 3 gallons of water into a large bucket. Add in the soap and water mixture. Add in one cup of borax and half a cup of washing soda. Stir until the ingredients thicken. Use about ¼ cup (the size of a normal laundry detergent cap) per wash cycle.
Former Money Talks News staffer Jim Robinson actually used this recipe. His results: “I made and washed several loads of clothes with the homemade detergent. And I, like many before me who’ve traveled this road, couldn’t tell the difference between store-bought and homemade.”
His cost: 2 cents per load – a savings of 18 cents compared to traditional laundry detergent.
3. Use less
If you’re using store-bought laundry detergent, don’t pour in an entire capful. Laundry detergent caps have a line about halfway down – the amount the manufacturer wants you to use for soiled clothes. See if you can use less and achieve the same result. Unless my clothes are truly dirty, I only use about 2 tablespoons per load – about half the recommended amount.
4. Don’t wash as often
I save the most on laundry by doing less of it. I’ll wear the same jeans two days in a row, use the same towel for three showers, and hang up anything I’ve worn less than a couple of hours. It’s all still clean, so why wash it again? I’ve cut down from five loads of laundry per week to three this way.
5. Don’t buy dry-clean only
A friend of mine buys dry-clean-only linen shirts for work. He goes through five shirts a week. Our local dry cleaner charges $2.50 per shirt, which adds up to:
- $12.50 per week
- $50 per month
- $600 per year
For half that much, he could buy really high-end washable shirts. Bottom line: Check the tag before you buy and stick to machine-washables.
6. Buy store brands in bulk
You’ll save money buying laundry detergent in huge sizes from bulk stores, but you’ll save even more buying the bulk store’s generic brand. In 8 Massive Ways to Save at Bulk Stores, I break down the cost of Tide and Sam’s Club’s brand Members Mark:
- Tide with ActiveLift, 170 ounces/110 loads = $19.98
- Member’s Mark Liquid Laundry Detergent, 225 ounces/146 loads = $13.68
7. Wash in cold water only
In “Green Up” Your Laundry, Stacy says almost 90 percent of the energy used by your washing machine is used to heat the water. Personally, I wash everything in cold water with any kind of laundry detergent I have on hand – and my clothes always come out clean.
But if you don’t want to use cold, use the warm setting with a cold rinse. Switching from hot to warm can cut energy use by 50 percent.
8. Wash full loads
Always wash full loads. You’ll use less energy. Need to do laundry more often because you’ve run out of, say, socks? It’s cheaper to buy more of an item now so you don’t have to run a half-empty washer later. Money Talks News staffer Michael Koretzky buys all his socks on sale and in bulk: “I’m old and not growing anymore, so I have a closet full of discount tube socks.”
9. Adjust the water level
If you do have to wash a partial load, adjust the water level on your washing machine to fit the size of the load. For example, the California Energy Commission says the average washer uses 40 gallons of water per load. If you fill the barrel one-third full and use the highest water setting, you’re wasting about 27 gallons of water.
10. Set the wash cycle to a lower setting
Only heavily soiled clothes need the highest setting. Everything else will get clean on lower settings. I typically wash my clothes on six turns – the lowest setting on my washing machine.
11. Use high-speed spins
If your washing machine has a “high spin” setting, use it. The high-powered spin does a better job of removing excess water from your clothes, cutting down on drying times.
If your washing machine doesn’t have a high-spin setting, restart the machine for another spin. Your clothes will dry faster, saving energy.
12. Don’t overload
Your washing machine won’t perform efficiently if you overload the barrel. If the washing machine is too full, the laundry detergent won’t distribute evenly, and the clothes won’t be able to agitate against each other – meaning they won’t get clean. My rule of thumb: If I’m stuffing clothes in, it’s too full.
13. Save the suds
Some washing machines have a “suds-saving” feature. The setting reserves the wash water and uses it again on another load. If your machine has this setting, use it. It’ll reduce your water usage by 50 percent.
14. Replace fabric softener with white vinegar
A bottle of fabric softener ranges from $2.97 to $9 at Walmart. Save your money and add one-fourth of a cup of white vinegar to each load. The vinegar softens cloths and helps prevent static cling. And a 16-ounce bottle costs about $1.50.
Now let’s turn our attention to the dryer.
15. Clean the lint filter
Clean the interior lint filter by hand between every load. Once every four to six months, use a vacuum with an extension tube to clean out the exterior lint filter on the back of your dryer. Lint buildup prevents your dryer from operating efficiently, making it take longer to dry your clothes.
16. Don’t over-dry
Many modern dryers have a water sensor that automatically turns off the dryer when your clothes are dry. If you have this setting, use it. If you have an archaic dryer like I do, train yourself to check on your clothes every 20 to 30 minutes. Once they feel dry to the touch, pull them out immediately.
17. Line-dry
Line-drying is free. If you don’t have a backyard, invest in a drying rack or an interior clothes line. I installed a retractable clothes line in my kitchen so I can pull it out when I need it and hide it when I don’t. Perfect for delicates.
18. Take advantage of off-peak hours
Some utility companies have lower rates during their off-peak hours (generally during the evenings or weekends.) Call your utility company, find out the exact times, and run your dryer then for easy savings.
19. Dry similar fabrics together
Load your dryer with similar fabrics for maximum efficiency. For example, dry lighter synthetic fabrics (like tank tops and T-shirts) together and heavier natural fabrics (like towels and jeans) together. Synthetic fabrics dry more quickly than natural ones; mix them together and the load will take longer to dry.
20. Skip the iron
Irons waste electricity and time. Hang or fold your clothes as soon as you take them out, and you often won’t need one. But if you’re like me and you sometimes pile them up on the bed and let them wrinkle, bring what you plan to wear that day with you to the shower. The steam from the shower will pull out many wrinkles.
21. Dry several loads in a row
The first load heats up the dryer. That residual heat sticks around for a few minutes after you cut off the dryer. Quickly add a second load and take advantage of the residual heat. If you let the dryer cool completely, it’ll use more energy building the heat back up.
The laundry room isn’t the only place to save on clothes – check out 23 Tips to Save on Clothing and 4 Tips for Buying Brand-Name Clothes on a Budget.
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Don’t Pay Late! How to Set Up a Bill Reminder
The following post comes from Jeff Rose at partner site Good Financial Cents.
My wife is the queen of paying our bills on time – she refuses to let a bill go unpaid or pay a silly late fee. She doesn’t need an app on her iPhone to remind her when a bill needs to be paid. She just uses a simple single sheet of paper pinned up next to our home computer. She definitely completes me.
For those who need more than a single sheet a paper, I’ve asked my wife Miranda to share some neat ways to set up a bill reminder so that you never pay another late bill again…
Miranda’s system
Whether you pay your bills using the old checkbook method or you get online and make your payments, sometimes it’s easy to forget when it’s time to send your money. If you want to make sure you’re up-to-date on all of your accounts, and that you don’t forget to send a payment, you can set up bill reminders to help you along.
There are a number of different financial applications that allow you to set up bill reminders. Some of them can be set up in your personal finance software, and others are more general. Here are some of the more popular ways to set up reminders for bill pay:
- Google calendar: This is an almost universal way to remind yourself that a bill is due. Go into your Google Calendar and arrange to have a reminder pop up (or be emailed to you) on the day you want to pay your bill. Enter the details, including the name of the payment, and who you’re making the payment to. Schedule it for “all day,” and you’re set. You’ll get the reminder as you’re checking your email – or even on your phone if your phone is set to alert you in these cases.
- Mint: You can receive bill reminders right to your phone or email if you use Mint.com. This is the premier online personal finance budget tool, and it’s possible for you to schedule bill pay reminders. Just go into Mint and “Add a reminder.” Mint also suggests that you set up reminders based on your transactions, so you can set reminders to recur every month.
- Manilla: One of the latest financial management tools to hit the Web is Manilla, and this application also features bill reminders. You can have reminders pop up on your phone if you are using the mobile app, or you can receive them via text message or email. Reminders are customizable so that it’s easy to view them the way you want.
- What Bills?: This Web-based bill reminder service sends email notifications to help you keep up with when things are due. You can also keep up with what you have already paid with What Bills?, so that you have access to completed transactions.
Plenty of other services offer bill reminders. You can get them in Quicken, YNAB, and other major financial software applications. However, some of the notifications only pop up when you open the application, so double check to make sure you receive email, text, or mobile app notifications.
Of course, you can reduce your need for bill reminders by automating some of your bill payments. Some bills, especially recurring bills, can easily be managed by simply having an automatic debit set up so that the money is taken from your account each month. You don’t have to worry about forgetting when the bill pay pays itself.
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Credit Card Makeover: Christine’s Cards After Debt
I review dozens of credit card offers each week to find the best deals. Check out more on our credit card page. Want your own credit card makeover? Email me.
Christine is a young administrative assistant for a telephone sales company in Colorado. She has no credit history. Unfortunately, she’s been using sub-prime credit cards – which have harsh terms and are marketed to those with damaged or no credit – because she thought they were her only option. Thankfully, she’s about to pay off their entire balances. So what now?
Where Christine is…
“I have two First Premier cards – one purple, one gold. I got one in October 2008, the other in September 2009. I got them because they gave me credit cards when I had no credit history.
“Currently, I have a $550 balance between the two cards. I usually pay only $5 or $10 over the minimum, but I pay on time. In the past, I usually didn’t have the money to pay the balance in full, but I was told by First Premier it is not good to pay just the minimum. I plan on paying off all these balances soon. In the future, I want rewards and something that will help build my credit. I also want lower or no annual fees. The last time I checked, my credit score was about 680.”
Where Christine needs to go…
First, Christine should pay off her balances as soon as possible – and then cancel those First Premier cards. They have annual and monthly fees that total $150 per year! In fact, they’re so full of fees, they’ve been the subject of government scrutiny. Therefore, the sooner Christine can pay off her entire balance and cancel her account, the more money she’ll immediately save.
A better way to go would have been a secured card, also an option for those with no credit history or a bad history. (See Up-Front Credit Card Fees? Here’s a Better Option.)
Once Christine takes this advice, what next? The good news is that she’s been making her payments on time, and her credit score is now good enough that she shouldn’t have to bother with fee-heavy, sub-prime cards.
A great card for her to consider is the Chase Freedom Visa. It offers 1 percent cash back on most purchases and 5 percent cash back on charges to certain categories of merchants that change each quarter. There’s no annual fee for this card, and it’s eligible for the Blueprint program. With Blueprint, Christine can save money on interest if she ever needs to carry a balance on some purchases while paying others in full. This program also features powerful online budgeting and goal-setting features.
Bottom line…
If Christine had avoided those high-fee cards and gone with a secured card, she would’ve saved hundreds in fees – an important lesson for people building or rebuilding their credit. But now that she’s about to pay off those accounts, she can upgrade her wallet and make her credit cards pay her, instead of paying them.
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Like this article? Sign up for our email updates and we’ll send you a regular digest of our newest stories, full of money saving tips and advice, free! We’ll also email you a PDF of Stacy Johnson’s ’205 Ways to Save Money’ as soon as you’ve subscribed. It’s full of great tips that’ll help you save a ton of extra cash. It doesn’t cost a dime, so why wait? Click here to sign up now.
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Guns, ACs, and More: 2012 Sales Tax Holidays
At the end of every summer, some states offer a Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday so parents can buy their children tax-free school supplies and new clothes for the academic year. But these aren’t the only type of sales tax holiday.
Some states make hunting supplies tax-free during hunting seasons. Others make Energy Star-certified appliances tax-free. The coastal states of Louisiana and Virginia make emergency supplies like self-powered portable radios tax-free in May – the month before hurricane season starts.
If you live in one of the states below, you can check out its Department of Revenue website to learn exactly which purchases qualify for the sales tax exemption. (These links will take you right to that info.)
Note: South Carolina canceled its sales tax holiday for hunting supplies – also known as “Second Amendment Weekend” – for 2011. (It’s one of several states that have canceled their sales tax holidays over the past decade, according to the nonprofit Tax Foundation.) But a state representative recently added a provision to South Carolina’s budget that, if passed, would reinstate Second Amendment Weekend, which used to be held on Black Friday weekend.
Check back in late July for the dates and details of this year’s back-to-school sales tax holidays. And if you live in a hurricane-prone (or even tornado-prone) state, check out our hurricane and natural disaster preparation tips before hurricane season starts.
Karla Bowsher runs our deals page and covers consumer, retail, and health issues. If you have a comment, suggestion, or question, leave a comment or contact her at karla@moneytalksnews.com.
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6 Tips for Buying a Rental Car
When my husband and I bought our last car, we gave it a 492-mile test drive.
During the summer of 2005, we rented a same-year Toyota Camry to attend a wedding two states away. Our old clunker was dying, and we didn’t trust it to make the trip. But after our Camry rental deftly navigated through road construction, gridlock, and open highway, we were hooked. We wanted to buy it.
And guess what? The company, Verc Car Rentals, let us. They gave us a great deal and even comped us the cost of the original rental. In fact, their entire fleet is for sale. “I will always sell a car to someone who wants it,” Verc Car owner Jack Vercollone told me.
Apparently, Verc Car isn’t unique. According to Jim Tennant of the Tennant Group, a rental-car consulting firm, companies will sell their cars to average Americans. “Renting a car is a great way to test any make and model that you’re not familiar with,” Tennant says. So if you’re thinking about driving down this path, here’s what you need to do…
1. Know what you’re getting into (literally)
Tennant says the typical car is a year to 18 months old. It’s a well-equipped popular model with 20,000 to 30,000 miles on the odometer. (Vercollone points out that last year’s tsunami in Japan created a shortage of Japanese cars, so the standard mileage might increase to 45,000 for a while.)
Rental companies buy their vehicles at deep discounts, either from dealers or directly from the manufacturer. When those vehicles reach their allotted mileage, the companies sell these cars back to the dealer or at auction. They’re still worth something because they’ve been scrupulously maintained with regular oil changes. Dealers will not buy back cars without strict maintenance standards, Tennant says.
2. Know what you’re not getting
While the price might be right, your choices are obviously limited to the most popular makes and models – because those are what people want to rent.
While www.hertzcarsales.com or www.enterprisecarsales.com let you search their stock of vehicles for sale – and even take your trade-in – smaller companies don’t have that capability. “But if you’re willing to wait for the vehicle you want, most smaller agencies will accommodate you,” Tennant says.
3. Don’t haggle
If you haggle, don’t expect to win. Because many of these vehicles have a guaranteed buyer (the dealer) or are heading to auction, rental agencies don’t have to sell to you. When they do, “we only make $500 to $1,000 more than we would by selling the cars at auction,” Vercollone says. “The margins are small.”
And there’s little time for haggling anyway. “Car rental companies need to get rid of their inventory quickly, regardless of who they sell it to,” Tennant says.
4. Don’t expect financing – or much else
For the financing, insurance, title, sales tax, and registration – well, you’re on your own if you’re buying from a small independent agency like Verc. Selling cars isn’t what they do best, so they don’t put a lot of time and effort into it.
“We don’t advertise,” Vercollone says. “We don’t have a big car lot or offer financing.”
The big chains like Hertz and Enterprise will send you to their “partners” like Chase and Bank of America. Their websites even offer financing calculators so you can figure out your monthly payments.
5. Ask for a free test drive
You’ve heard of test drives, which are usually a spin around the block with the new-car salesperson. Buying a rental car can mean a test drive that lasts days. Smaller companies like Verc Rentals offer “free rentals.” This can be done in a number of ways. Express a serious interest, and Verc simply gives you the car. Other places make you rent the car for a few days, and if you buy it, that cost is deducted from the sticker price. Some, but not all, larger chains do this too: Hertz offers a “3-day test rental.”
6. Take note of other perks
Be sure to ask that the manufacturer’s warranties are transferred to you. The rental company should also make any cosmetic repairs. Our Camry had a small dent, a stain on the back seat, and a missing ashtray. Because we don’t smoke, we didn’t care about the ashtray, but we did insist on the other problems being fixed. And they were. They even changed the oil and rotated the tires too.
Bottom line
So what about that Toyota Camry we bought? Did we get a good deal?
I called a nearby Toyota dealer and asked him for some basic information. At the time, a new Toyota Camry would have cost us about $20,500 – our same-year rental car was priced at $15,900 with 20,000 miles on the odometer.
I knew that the brand-new car version of our car would have depreciated at least $3,000 the moment it left the lot. Thus, by purchasing a rental car, we skipped the depreciation and received a $1,600 credit for the miles. Looking at it another way, we bought a well-maintained, slightly-used new car for a 22 percent discount. Not bad, given the fact that the car is still going strong 110,000 miles later.
While buying a rental car certainly isn’t for everyone, I found it much better and safer than buying a used car through a personal sale – yes, I trust a rental car company more than some individual I just met and will never see again. And I got perks and service no individual could offer.
For more on the topic, check out Used Cars That Are Better Than New?
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Ask an Expert: Will Canceling Cards Hurt My Credit Score?
I review dozens of credit card offers each week to find the best deals. Check out more on our credit card page. Have a question? Email me.
A Money Talks News reader asks…
I have a huge concern: My husband and I have pretty good credit: (credit scores) above 750. I decided to apply for (low interest) credit cards that I could transfer balances to and pay off a family vacation. My concern is that I applied to two cards based on the low APR, and unfortunately, realized too late that the transfer fee was too high for me. I am very concerned that I applied for the wrong cards.
Does it lower my credit score to cancel these cards and then apply for cards that offer what I really need, which is a lower transfer fee? I hope you can help me figure this out. Thank you very much for your help.
- Sandra
Thanks for the question, Sandra. Here’s your answer…
Unfortunately, you realized a bit too late the first of our 5 Questions to Ask About Zero-Percent Card Offers: “What’s the balance transfer fee?”
Nevertheless, since you and your husband have excellent credit, you should still be able to receive some good balance transfer offers. Currently the best balance transfer card on the market is the Slate Card from Chase. Unlike most other cards, it offers balance transfers with no balance transfer fee and features a zero percent interest rate for 15 months on both purchases and balance transfers.
And here’s some even better news: For most people, having additional credit cards can improve their credit score. That’s because of what’s known as a credit utilization ratio.
Your utilization ratio is the amount of debt you have outstanding compared to your available credit. For example, if you currently owe $5,000 on a credit card with a $10,000 limit, your utilization ratio is 50 percent. Add another credit card with a $10,000 limit and you’ll still have $5,000 of debt, but $20,000 of available credit. While you still have a 50 percent ratio on the first card, adding the new card lowers your overall ratio to 25 percent. The lower your utilization ratio, the better. That’s why adding credit can do something counter-intuitive: increase your credit score.
Adding new cards will also increase the credit lines reflected on your credit history – the more history you have, the better. That’s why I’d keep the new cards. Exception? If they have annual fees. If so, it’s OK to get rid of them: if your credit history is long, diverse and stellar, cancelling the cards will have little, if any, impact.
What could be a concern is the effect of lots of new inquiries might have on your FICO scores. If you just applied for two cards, and now you want to apply for a third, your credit score might suffer from having too many recent inquiries. Fortunately, the effect is temporary and minor. Here’s what FICO credit score creator Fair Isaac says on the subject:
In general, credit inquiries have a small impact on one’s FICO score. For most people, one additional credit inquiry will take less than five points off their FICO score… While inquiries often can play a part in assessing risk, they play a minor part. Much more important factors for your score are how timely you pay your bills and your overall debt burden as indicated on your credit report.
In contrast, your payment history and level of debt constitute 35 percent and 30 percent of your score, respectively. So if you’re just about to apply for a major loan or refinance your house, you don’t want to apply for new cards and risk your credit score dropping below 760 – the number that will get you the most favorable rates from many lenders.
But if no major loan applications are coming up this year, I wouldn’t worry about getting a third card – go for it.
Slate from Chase – No Balance Transfer Fee
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23 Ways to Lower the Cost of Home Improvement
In 2011, the average cost of adding a bathroom was around $40,000, while a major kitchen remodel was nearly $58,000, according to Remodeling Magazine. Considering U.S. workers earned an average of just more than $45,000 in 2011, remodeling your house can cost more than an entire year’s salary.
But it doesn’t have to.
Money Talks News founder Stacy Johnson shares five money-saving tips for remodeling your house in the video below. Check it out and then read on for more ways to save on that new master bath, remodeled office space, or media room…
Click to play ’5 Ways to Save on Home Remodeling’
Let’s review Stacy’s ideas and add more, from the planning stages to the cleanup…
1. Consider resale value
Once a year, Remodeling Magazine publishes their Cost vs. Value report, which shows the average job cost and resale value for typical remodeling projects. Few remodeling projects offer a 100 percent return on your investment, but some projects have a higher resale value than others. For example:
- Cost for a home office remodel – $27,963
- Resale value – $11,983 (43 percent of costs recouped)
- Cost for a sunroom addition – $74,310
- Resale value – $34,133 (46 percent of costs recouped)
- Cost for a minor kitchen remodel – $19,588
- Resale value – $14,120 (72 percent of costs recouped)
Check out 5 Home Improvements That Won’t Sell Your House before you start remodeling. Unless you plan to live in your house for the rest of your life, you’ll want to recoup some of your costs when you sell one day – so choose remodeling projects with higher resale values.
2. Plan around deals
Another way to plan: Look for deals before you start remodeling. Say, for example, you know you want to update your kitchen. Keep an eye out for specials on countertops, kitchen island installation, or new windows. Once you buy the deal, plan the rest of your remodel around it.
3. Plan for the unexpected
Leave a little wiggle room in your remodeling budget for unexpected costs – most remodeling projects have a few. If you don’t have the cash on hand to pay for the overages, you might be tempted to borrow the money, which can result in hefty interest. The average interest rate for a personal loan is 9.49 percent, according to Bankrate. The average interest rate for a home equity loan is 6.92 percent.
4. Don’t move plumbing
Moving drain lines is costly. According to MSNBC, relocating the kitchen sink can cost up to $2,000. Plan your remodel around the current plumbing. Adding or moving electrical outlets is also expensive.
5. Stick to stock sizes
Look for standard sizes when you purchase materials. Custom pieces cost far more than the stock pieces sold at home improvement stores. For example, RemPros, a remodeling group, says that custom kitchen cabinets can cost 60 to 80 percent more than stock cabinets.
6. Buy imitations
If you’re buying new materials, look for imitations or knock-offs – they’re cheaper. For example, solid oak hardwood flooring costs $14.26 per square foot at Lowe’s. Engineered oak flooring costs $2.98 per square foot and you won’t notice much of a difference.
7. Buy cheap materials
Many contractors mark up materials; others charge to pick them up. And big-box home improvement stores don’t always have the best prices. Buy materials yourself at resale stores like the Habitat for Humanity ReStore – there are about 400 across the country. You can also find free or cheap materials online through sites like eBay, Craigslist, and Freecycle.
8. Attend building supply auctions
Stacy once bought a new Miele oven worth $3,000 for $600 at an IRS auction. To find local building material auctions, search “building material auction [your state].” Other places to check:
9. Ask for leftover materials
Contractors often have extra materials from past jobs. They may not be exactly what you wanted, but you’ll probably be able to negotiate a hefty discount by taking them off his hands.
10. Haul materials yourself
Having the store deliver your materials can be expensive. If you don’t have a truck, rent one. Home Depot rents trucks by the hour. Prices vary but cost about $20 per hour in my area.
11. Don’t pay for haul-away
Hauling away the old materials gets expensive, especially if you’re undertaking a large remodel. In my area, it costs $22 to have one appliance picked up on trash day. If you’re remodeling entire rooms, you might have to pay for a dumpster to hold the trash in between trips to the dump. Instead, call up your local Habitat for Humanity. They’ll pick up anything salvageable for free – and you’ll get a tax writeoff.
12. Don’t go overboard with granite
Granite countertops are nice. They’re also pricey. But if you’re set on having them, compromise. Pair your granite countertops with a cheaper backsplash. For example,
- Granite tile = $21.42 each at Lowe’s
- Ceramic tile = $0.21 each
- Total savings = $21.21 per tile
13. Ignore trends
Much like clothing fads, you’ll probably get sick of housing fads in a few years. Stick to the basics instead and save. Take those popular vessel sinks for example – Home Depot sells an American Standard model for $213.23, or you could buy a traditional drop-in sink for $97.00.
14. Add solar tubes instead of skylights and windows
Solar tubes are small metal tubes installed between the roof and ceiling. The metal acts like a mirror and funnels light to the room below. They’re small, effective, and cheaper than installing a window or skylight. Houselogic says having a solar tube professionally installed will cost about $500 (compared to about $2,000 for a skylight) – or you can install one yourself. The kits cost $150 to $250.
15. Limit recessed lighting
Recessed lighting looks nice, but costs more than other light fixtures. In my area, Homewyse estimates it would cost $714 to $1,415 to have six recessed lighting units professionally installed. By comparison, the average cost to install a ceiling light fixture is $147.50.
16. Find the right contractor
Start by looking for a contractor in the off-season. Contractors charge less when they need the work – like right after the new year. Then pit contractors against each other. Get at least three different bids to find the best price.
Remember, however, that price shouldn’t be the sole determinant. How well you relate to the contractor, their experience, references and other factors are just as important. The key is to get the best value, not the lowest price.
17. Do small jobs yourself
A remodeling bid typically includes everything from consultations to cleanup. If you’re not skilled with your hands, you can still save money by doing some of the small jobs yourself. If you’ve got the extra time, ask the contractor if you can do the cleaning, painting, and light demolition yourself.
18. Work alongside the contractor
If you’re somewhat skilled as a handyman, do bigger jobs yourself and save even more. Many jobs – like appliance installation, crown molding, and flooring upgrades – don’t require a ton of experience. Never done it before? Check out the Lowe’s Video Center for step-by-step instructions on dozens of home improvement projects.
If you want hands-on experience, spend a weekend volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. You’ll work with experienced contractors, learn everything from roofing to flooring, and give back to your community.
19. Hire a coach
If you’re still not sure about doing the work alone, hire a contractor to watch you work. Many contractors will do this for a reduced rate, so you’ll still save on your construction costs. In 16 Tips to Save on Home Remodeling, Stacy talks about hiring an electrician to help him install recessed lighting in his house. He saved about 50 percent and learned a new skill.
20. Think revamp, not remodel
Your biggest savings opportunity may already be in your house. Instead of replacing everything with new materials, repurpose what you have. For example, a few years ago while my mother was remodeling she painted her brass chandelier instead of replacing it. A chandelier can cost anywhere from $50 to thousands. A can of spray paint costs about $2.50.
Consider what you already have – from lighting, to baseboards, to cabinets – and see what might look better with a little sanding and a coat of paint.
21. Save on appliances
If your remodel includes upgraded appliances, don’t pay full price. There are several ways to get discounts on major appliances.
- Buy at the right time – Appliance retailers have big sales around holidays, and once a year when the new models come out (usually between September and October.)
- Look for scratch and dent – Buy a pre-scratched floor model and you could save 10 to 20 percent.
- Buy used – Search sites like Craigslist for gently used appliances. Last year I bought a $350 AC window unit for $150 this way.
- Skip the extended warranty – Most extended warranties are never used. Stick with the basic free warranty.
Those are the basic ways to save on appliances. Check out 9 Tips to Save on Appliance Purchases for more ideas.
22. Prioritize
Do upgrades that will lower your monthly bills first. Make a list of every upgrade you’ll directly benefit from – like energy-efficient appliances, ceiling fans, or double-paned windows. These are improvements that will pay for themselves.
23. Remodel slowly
You can still add your wants even if you don’t have the budget right now. Just save up enough cash to pay for one wish-list item at a time.
Our goal was to create a top-to-bottom, blueprint-to-cleanup list of ways to save on a home remodeling project. How’d we do? Sound off on our Facebook page and give us your tips for cutting remodeling costs.
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What to Do When You Don’t Have a 401(k)
The following post comes from Matthew Amster-Burton at partner site Mintlife.
A reader named Drew recently asked me…
This past year my family had a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) above $180,000. This means contributing to Roth/Traditional IRAs are no longer an option, and my employer doesn’t offer a 401(k). This leaves us with what appears to be no tax-advantaged way to save for retirement. What should we do?
My answer: Nice problem to have.
It would be easy to use the lack of a 401(k) as an excuse not to save for retirement, or to save too little. Drew is too smart for that.
I asked Drew a little more about his situation. He and his wife both receive W-2s, so they can’t contribute to a self-employment plan like a SEP-IRA or individual 401(k). They have no kids, which means they’re not contributing to 529 college savings plans. And they have no debt other than a very modest, low-interest mortgage. (See? Smart guy.)
Drew does have some money in IRAs and Roth IRAs from previous jobs. And he’d like a 50/50 portfolio: half stocks, half bonds.
Here’s what I recommend…
Keep it traditional
The only IRA you hear about these days is the Roth IRA. The traditional IRA sounds so stuffy. Well, guess what? Drew can’t contribute to a Roth IRA, but anybody who doesn’t have a retirement plan at work can contribute to a deductible traditional IRA, even with a high income. That means Drew and his wife can each contribute $5,000 to an IRA, and it’s tax-deductible.
That takes care of the first $10,000. With an income above $180,000, that’s not enough. Let’s find more ways to save.
Get efficient
Most Americans can do all of their retirement savings in tax-advantaged retirement accounts – IRAs and 401(k)’s. If you’re stuck without a 401(k), with a high income (I realize this is a creative use of the word “stuck”), or both, you’ll need to use a taxable account.
A taxable account is just a regular brokerage account where you can hold any kind of investment and pay taxes as they come due. If you have a savings account, you’re familiar with the concept: You contribute after-tax money and pay taxes every year on the interest.
When you’re talking about stock and bond investments, however, it quickly gets a lot more complicated. Some investments are “tax-efficient” and some aren’t. To oversimplify a bit, stocks are tax-efficient (because they’re taxed at the lower capital gains and dividend rate and taxes are deferred until you sell) and bonds are not (they’re taxed much like a savings account).
Bonds are like wild animals that need to be put in the safe enclosure of an IRA or 401(k). That means Drew should put all of his bonds into his existing IRAs, where he won’t have to pay tax on their income until retirement. His taxable account should hold 100 percent stocks. This seems weird, but it’s all one portfolio that happens to be arbitrarily split into separate accounts because of tax law.
Let’s put some made-up numbers on this. Let’s say Drew has one existing IRA with $100,000 in it, and he’s going to contribute $30,000 this year to a taxable account. At the end of the year, his portfolio might look like this:
IRA
$65,000 in a bond fund (such as a total bond market index fund)
$35,000 in a U.S. stock fundTAXABLE ACCOUNT
$19,500 international stock fund
$10,500 U.S. stock fund
There, that’s 50 percent stocks and 50 percent bonds, with 30 percent of the stocks international — consistent with typical adviser recommendations for holding international stocks. (International stocks are especially tax-efficient and belong in the taxable account.)
If Drew gets to the point where he can’t fit all of his bonds in the IRA, he should consider municipal bonds and U.S. savings bonds. But not yet. (Although, savings bonds would be a great choice for non-retirement savings.)
Watch out for turnover
When a stock fund in your taxable account trades stocks, you’re on the hook for the capital gains taxes – even if you did nothing but buy the fund and hold it. So those funds should be as low-turnover as possible, which means index funds or ETFs.
Total market index funds buy the entire stock market and hold it forever, which means you pay no capital gains tax until you sell the fund. (Not coincidentally, index funds tend to outperform the vast majority of actively managed funds, after taxes and expenses.)
Stock funds do pay dividends, and you pay tax on those every year. The good news is, no matter what tax bracket you’re in, those dividends are taxed at just 15 percent.
Look for losses
When you hold stock funds in a taxable account, you can gain additional tax savings by tax-loss harvesting. When the market drops and some of your stocks are worth less than you originally paid, you can sell them and buy a similar (but not identical) fund, and this loss can be used to offset capital gains on other holdings – or even reduce your regular income taxes.
It’s a legal way to defer more taxes – perhaps all the way until retirement, when Drew is likely to be in a lower tax bracket.
Take it up with the boss
No clever portfolio will be half as lucrative for Drew as talking his employer into offering a 401(k) plan. Especially if you’re in a high tax bracket, the tax savings offered by a 401(k) are huge.
That’s all I’ve got, Drew. Congratulations on avoiding a personal recession, and best of luck.
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