As I mentioned in a previous post, we switched our cell phone service from Verizon to AT&T. In our area AT&T just has better reception and fewer dropped calls. In our last official bill from Verizon something didn’t look right, and once I checked it wasn’t!

Verizon added a $105 early termination fee to our bill. So I called them up to get it removed. We had been with them since 2004, and we had not upgraded phones for 4 years! The customer service rep listened to my defense, put me on hold, then came back with a “it must have been coded wrong” and reversed the charge. Why is it when companies “code things wrong” it is the customer who always pays, never the company? I am not sure I buy the coded wrong excuse but at least they reversed the charge.

Once again it pays to read over your bills, and then make phone calls to push your case. Another penny saved from taking time to pay attention!

 

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So I have had my iphone for less than a month. And you know I had to see if there were any apps that could help me financially! So today I want to talk about two apps that fit the bill of saving money.

The first one is called ShopSavvy. It is a nice little app that comes with a barcode reader. When you are in a store, you scan the item’s barcode that you are interested in, and then it will display where in your local area you can find that item and at what price they are selling it for, and it will also check the web for online retailers and their prices. It will also let you go to reviews of that particular item.

I tried it out in Wal-Mart on an ihome alarm clock (stick your phone in and it charges it, plus lets you play music for an alarm). Found out that Amazon had a cheaper price (no surprise) , but after reading reviews found out that it was not what I wanted—I would have to take my iphone’s cover off every time to use it.

The second app  that I have used is called appsgonefree. Basically every day you check it and it lets you know of apps that are now free—sometimes the price has been lowered, sometimes it is just a promotional. I’ve downloaded multiple apps and have saved myself $1-$3 every time. And the app itself is free!

Nothing like saving money to make me like my phone even more! FYI–I get nothing for recommending these apps. Just two that I have liked using.

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Went into Wawa (local gas /grocery place) the other day to treat myself to a cup of chai tea (gift card!). There was an older gentleman there cleaning up the coffee area, refilling straws and cups, etc. Then I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a storage item—basket for remotes (gift card!). Again, there was an older person greeting us—the classic Wal-Mart greeter. Both of these individuals (they both happened to be men) appeared to be well into their “retirement” years.

Now there is nothing wrong with what they were doing, but is what they were doing what you want to be doing when you retire? Not me! I still want to work part-time when I “retire” but I want the freedom to choose when and where I work.

So to make that happen I am saving. Are you doing what it takes so that you can retire the way you want? Everyone’s retirement dreams are different, which means are plans and saving need to be different. But if you haven’t started thinking about it, now is the time to get started. Actually, yesterday is the day we should have started, but the next best day is today. So let’s get started and start planning and saving! Wal-mart positions could get pretty competitive in a few years!

Hi there - could you help spread the word about A Penny Saved? We rely on word of mouth to get new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would truly appreciate it. How is Your Retirement Future? is a post from: A Penny Saved, the best darn personal finance blog around.

I did a quick financial review of 2011. My net worth is up by about $13,600. My liabilities (mortgage) only went down slightly, but we should do better in 2012 since we will be paying extra on our mortgage every month – enough to make a full two extra payments. Extra income helped – made $2500 between the various odds and ends we do to make a little extra. That was much more than I expected. We probably will not hit that figure in 2012 since my work load at church will be heavier and I will have to scale back my time in other areas. Our savings toward a replacement vehicle went well, and we are slowly (and I do mean slowly!) building up our emergency fund.

I broke about even (slightly ahead) on my retirement savings- what a crazy year for investing. Basically what I put in is what I got this year. Hopefully things will settle down and I can start getting some good returns from my investments.

All and all not a bad year financially. One of the areas we want to focus on in 2012 is building up our emergency fund. After it took some big hits in 2010 we just have not been able to put away as much as we would like. Hopefully that can change in 2012.

How did you do in 2011? Any surprises?

 

Hi there - could you help spread the word about A Penny Saved? We rely on word of mouth to get new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would truly appreciate it. Year End Financial Update is a post from: A Penny Saved, the best darn personal finance blog around.

ING Direct had a “Black Friday” Sale that I took advantage of – in fact it was my only Black Friday “purchase”. ING had several ways to earn money if you opened a new account, one of which was for opening a children’s account. I had been thinking about opening an online account for my girls anyway, so I took advantage of the offer.

It was really easy to open the account (took only about a minute for each child), there was no minimum amount to deposit, and for my trouble each of my girls earned $27 for their account! The bonus money will be accessible in 30 days (if we keep the account open for 30 days, which we will).

So instead of spending money on Black Friday, I earned some for my girls – and became a hero!

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If you want to save money, it will probably be a little inconvenient and require a little more work. For instance, when I went to an amusement park this year, I could have parked right next to the entrance – for an extra $10 fee. We chose instead to walk farther and save the money. Or when I purchase antifreeze for my vehicle I could spend $9.99 on “premixed” antifreeze which is ready to use right from the container, but I choose to buy the concentrate at $7.99 and mix it myself (and get twice as much!). Our family cooks from scratch (tastes better and is healthier!) instead of using “prepared” food which is quicker but more expensive.

Saving money usually requires time and work – but it is worth it! What “conveniences” do you give up to save money?

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There are times when memberships are a waste of money. Most of us have had experiences with things like gym memberships or museum memberships that we did not use. However there are times when memberships not only pay for themselves but can save you money. Costco is one membership for us that falls into the saving us money category, but another one is our membership to Longwood Gardens (located outside of Philadelphia).

We live only about 45 minutes away from the gardens, and it is an easy and a beautiful drive (through rolling farmland and wooded acres and historic homes, etc.). The cost to get in on a per visit basis for our family is $60. The cost for our season pass is $120 – so we get our money’s worth at two family visits.  So far this year we have gone 4 times, and we plan on a few more visits – especially at Christmas when it is all decked out with lights!

The membership saves us money in that it gives us something special to do for those times we want to do something as a family. For example last Friday the girls had off school and I took a ½ day off from work (comp time) so that we could have some family time. Instead of spending money doing something (movie, eat out, etc.), we just headed off to Longwood Gardens and had a great time. And at Christmas it is one of our family traditions to go see the lights.

Do you have a membership that pays for itself or even saves you money?

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I don’t usually keep a whole lot of money in my PNC checking account, usually enough to pay the bills and a few hundred dollars more. But last month I averaged $6000 in the account. Most of the monies were waiting to be transferred to other accounts, some of it was to pay a larger than normal bill.

So as I looked at my statement, it showed that I earned a whole 7 cents interest on over $6000! How ridiculous is that? It’s bad enough that banks want to nickel and dime us with fees for everything, then they don’t want to pay us anything for the use of our money. That’s adding insult to injury.

Needless to say I will continue to keep as little money in that account as possible. Another reason to use online banks!

 

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This past week the group that went through the Financial Peace University Seminar with me back in the Fall (I was the coordinator) held a “reunion picnic”.  It was great to see the group again. There was a lot of laughter and catching up with stories.

The food and fellowship was wonderful, but the best part to me was hearing the stories how people are planning, saving, and paying off debt. It was really encouraging, and a motivator to keep at it. I was needing a little boost to keep diligent building up our emergency fund. This was just the ticket. Now to get back to building up that fund again!

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We received a notice from the IRS (actually three letters!) that they have accepted our amended returns from 2007, 2008, and 2009 (taking advantage of the change in the adoption tax credit). Now we just have to wait for them to accept our 2010 amended return. There should not be a problem with 2010 because all we did was roll over the previous year’s adoption tax credit. So we are pretty confident that in four to six weeks (IRS estimate) we should get our $5,460 refund!

We will be using part of the money to send my wife to Spain for a wedding (relative), and the rest will go toward our emergency fund and our car savings fund. I can’t wait to deposit that check!

Hi there - could you help spread the word about A Penny Saved? We rely on word of mouth to get new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would truly appreciate it. Notice from the IRS! is a post from: A Penny Saved, the best darn personal finance blog around.