Citi Cards

Citi credit cards are very good cards, up there with the likes of Chase. I've obtained Citi credit through acquisition, i.e. my Sears card. I would love to get some more Citi cards, though the last time I applied in January 2006, I was denied for their supposedly easiest card to get, the AA Bronze card.

Maybe I'll try again this month if I don't go for the Bank of America cards.

Rather than applying for new cards, I'm also trying to increase the lines of credit with existing cards. Unfortunately, some of my cards, like the Merrick Bank card which was originally my first credit card (Nextcard), do not respond to CLI inquiries, but instead give them on their own accord.

Bank of America Credit Cards

I already have a Bank of America Power Rewards card, but everytime I login to online banking, they offer me another credit card. Does it make sense to apply for a new card?

The two cards they are offering most are:
* WorldPoints Platinum Plus Mastercard
* Bank of America American Express card

It is a tough call. Bank of America has been good to me personally, but I don't want to push it.

My American Express Nightmare

My American Express Nightmare
Today I cancelled my American Express One card. I was so disappointed to learn that the hotel I am staying at was unable to get an authorization from AMEX to pay for the bill. I called AMEX to inquire about this and the representative informed me that they were unable to approve the charge because I didn't have an established purchase and payment history. That goes so against the concept of "no preset spending limit" that its absurd. I told the representative, in a very polite manner, that I was so upset and disappointed by this event (occurring while I was on my honeymoon) that I had no choice but to cancel the card.

I based my decision not only on the above mentioned event, but also on the economics of the card. I simply do not spend enough to merit a card with a $20 / year annual fee. No thanks. I also based my decision on the fact that "no preset spending limit" cards don't actually do much for your credit report, nor does cancelling one.

Only to find out that the....
American Express One Savings Account Website is not working.

Called and waited approximately five minutes until I spoke with a CSR, who asked for my information, password, and upon learning that I was calling about the One Savings Account, promptly put me on hold for another five minutes. Then I spoke with a CSR named Donald who did the EXACT same thing! Except that he gave me another phone number:

800-297-3733

The final CSR I spoke with at the aforementioned number was actually helpful. She said the website was indeed having problems, and that I could fax her an ACH authorization. She is faxing me the forms now.

American Express Bank, FSB

System Error
We are unable to complete your request due to a system error. Please try again later. If you need immediate assistance, please contact us at 1-800-297-3733.

When reporting a problem, please provide the following error code: 502

Called again, worked on the phone for a half and hour before she told me that the code means that the card is inactive. So I told her I cancelled the card, and she said she would have to send me to web support. She gave me this number:

888-212-9342

and the next representative told me I had the wrong department. Now I'm trying to get my card activated again so I can access my One Savings account again. This is atrocious.

Finally got a CSR, and again she said she has to get me over to another representative. OMG!

Holy moly, I cannot believe how incredibly horrible my experience with American Express's One Account has been. I hope this information has been helpful to you.

I spoke to "Mrs. Walters" who said my account activation was actually a new card request. I couldn't believe it, so I explained to her that my wife and I were just married, and I that I had deposited all our gifts into the One Savings Account, and that One refused to approve the honeymoon hotel, and so I cancelled the card, and was now unable to access the savings account. She apologized for the aggravation, and said I would receive a new card in 7-10 days, and that the activation would reflect online in 24-48 hours. All of this could have been avoided if the first customer service representative had mentioned that the savings account would not be accessible once the card was cancelled. Thanks a lot for wasting several hours of my time, and causing me undue aggravatino American Express. If this is how AMEX treats customers, I can't imagine how any high net worth individual (who AMEX supposedly caters to) would put up with it, let alone scrappy customers like me (though hopefull not for long - both the scrappy and the putting up with parts!).

Cans versus Soap

While staying in hotels, it is always tempting to take a few extra bars of soap or single servings of coffee to take home before you leave. I've done it before, and now the cleaning staff is getting back at me.

I redeem my cans for the $0.05 value I paid when buying soda. I guess most hotel guests just throw their cans away, and the staff is supposed to collect them for redemption, of they simply throw them away. This has happened to me a bunch, and continues to do so today. Oh well, I guess it all equals out in the end.

Upromise and Sallie Mae Merge

I use Upromise to say a buck or two while I'm shopping for everyday items. I logged in to their website today to check on accumulated savings, and found that they have merged with Sallie Mae, the pseudo-governmental higher learning lending institution. I find it a little strange, and wonder how they are going to strategize moving forward. Should Sallie Mae be the type of marketing company that is Upromise?

Hawaii Hotels

So we're at our first day at the Marriott and I already like it better than the Grand Hyatt Kauai. Not that the Hyatt was bad by any means, but the Marriott is newer and better priced. They have complimentary wireless internet (YES!) and the facilities (so far I've only seen the pool) are just as good, if not better.

Kauai Redemption Centers

I even want to redeem my deposits while on vacation! Consumers must pay a little more for most liquids here in Hawaii as even water and juice has a deposit. The water bottles and cranberry juice even have redemption values. However, you can't just bring them back to the store you bought them at. Here is a link to maps where you can find redemption centers:

Kauai Redemption Centers.

Bummer! We got to the redemption center five minutes too late. They closed at 5PM, so we had to just recycle them instead of getting our $0.06 per can and bottle. We probably lost $2.00!

Rechargeable Batteries

My wife and I have Kodak EasyShare C330 cameras, which when not switched off, go through batteries very quickly. The camera takes AA batteries which is one reason why we bought them. I'm a little disappointed with how fast they go through alkaline batteries, and this has inspired the purchase of rechargeable batteries. Hopefully we'll be able to save a few bucks with the rechargeable batteries.

I bought these:
http://www.all-battery.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1350

based on an entry from Slick Deals:
http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=129940&t=294919&highlight=batteries

Based on this purchase, I'm interested in getting another charger, a high quality one that will take good care of the batteries.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM
http://www.crypto.com/chargers/

Financial Websites

Here's a list of financial sites I visit:

* http://bankdeals.blogspot.com
* http://www.bestcashcow.com
* http://www.fatwallet.com
* http://www.bankrate.com

Bank Deals has great leads for finding good rates, but Bankrate is probably the easiest to evaluate different offerings. What do you think of the different sites?

Solar Power Roofing

My buddy Al is a roofer and we keep talking about putting a solar powered roof onto the house my wife and I build at some point in the future. I love the idea - but I expect that it would be pretty expensive. With the rising cost of energy and the falling cost of solar silicon, it makes a lot of sense.

From what I've read so far, Atlantis Energy's sunslates are the ones to go with. The slates produce about 1kW per 100 square feet (one "square") and cost about $12,000 per 100 square feet. This equals $12 per watt, and the commonly agreed upon "tipping point" price of solar power is $1 per watt. I also believe tht there are also federal tax rebates for this type of project.
Traditional roofs are abuot 1/20 the price, around $500-$600 per 100 square feet.

This is expensive, but we'd like to also video tape and photograph the project to publish as a guide.

In addition to the solar power, I'd also like to install a wind mill, a micro-hydro-turbine, and a diesel generator for use with biodiesel. Of course all of our appliances and systems would be energy star compliant. I'd also like to build a geo-thermal foundation, which leverages the natural heating and cooling properties of the earth to make a comfortable living environment.

Free VOIP from Galaxy Voice

Just posted this at slickdeals.net:

Searched for this but only found 465 day old thread about SunRocket, and the only mention of it was to ask if anyone has tried it. I've been using it for about a year and I like it.

The website states:
"Free Broadband Phone service available with NY, MA, NH, and RI number only",
however I think you can be anywhere, and simply get one of those numbers. With all the cell phone prefixes popping up and LD rates going down, I wouldn't stress it.

http://galaxyvoice.com/freevoip.html

I have used Galaxy Voice for almost a year and I'm very pleased with them. I use them for both my business ($4.99/month) and my home (free). We have naked DSL at my house ($19.99/month for 768/128), and cable at the office ($100/month for 6000/768). At the office I also use Asterisk, an open source PBX. At home I use a Handytone 485 ATA.

I believe that the setup we have at our home for approximately $23 / month for phone and DSL service is the best flat rate deal, no rebates, deals, scams whatever. Anyone have a cheaper setup? I even reduced the transmission power on my wireless router to 1mw to save electricity. :-)

Notes:
* You get charged $2.95 for FCC fees per month on the free account.
* You need to request g729 if you are using a 768/128 line like I am at my house. Surfing while talking can get tricky unless you setup QOS bandwidth management like I did with my Buffalo Airstation ($49.99 - $20 rebate) flashed with OpenWRT!!
* Some of my friends that have signed up have expressed dislike towards their signup process, saying it was slow and unfriendly. I'd be interested to hear how others fare.

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?p=3560278#post3560278

Conserving Energy

I love to save money. I also love to save energy. The two go hand in hand with the way energy prices have been going lately.

Gasoline:
I drive a fuel efficient car: 2006 Toyota Corolla. I keep it tuned up, use a high viscosity oil 10W40, and keep my tires at the right air pressure. I also try to combine errands so I'm not running around in circles wasting time and gas.

Electricity:
I use outlet timers to turn off appliances while I sleep, especially the TV. I also use low power equipment, such as laptops, LCD monitors, embedded linux devices, and compact flourescent light bulbs. I flashed my Buffalo Airstation wireless router with OpenWRT and turned down the transmit power to one milliwatt using the wl command!

Human energy:
I don't conserve my own energy as much, as it is healthy to stay active and fit. I try to walk places as much as possible. Unfortunately my bike recently broke, so I can't use it. I'm going to wait until next summer to fix it.

What do you do to save energy and money?

Next on my list: saving time!

HSBC Online Banking Customers at Risk?

Just found this article at Yahoo:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060809/tc_afp/britainhsbcinternet

It talks about keyloggers, which can comprimise many types of security. They don't delve into the details, so it is difficult to ascertain the level of risk.

As you may know, I don't like HSBC.

More about dollar wise and penny foolish

Today I cashed in my $20 Shaw's reward for spending $300 over the past 4 weeks. Its actually not a bad deal, about 6% off, if you paid only $300. The way Shaw's set it up was to use points. Shoppers would earn 1 point for each $25 spent, and the likelihood of spending $25 exactly 12 times is small. I probably spent $400, reducing the percentage saved to 5%. I was also able to use 3 $6 coupons for the first $180 dollars I spent. Along with the manufacturers' coupons, and the discounts from our credit cards, the savings likely approached 10%.

Earlier in the day, I went to IKEA to buy some Tanda outlet timers. It took about 30 minutes, and then I went to Staples to use a $10 / $40 coupon which had to be used in the store. I didn't have anything in mind to buy, so I browsed around for awhile. I ended up buying a big white board, and a 512MB flash drive. All together I spent $55 dollars, minus the $10 coupon, plus 2 x $3 free coupons for recycling ink cartridges. With the ink cartridges, you have to bring them into the store.

During all this I struggled with the idea that I was wasting my time. Even if I saved $30, I spent about 3 hours, earning about $10 / hour. Unfortunately, I can't make a living on $10 / hour.

Everyone tells me that coupons aren't worth it, but I do.

Recent Savings

Every now and again I prune the services I use that charge a monthly fee. My most recent cancellation was from Verizon. I had a land line with them that cost around $24 per month, and I only used it for faxing. If you figure that $1K in the bank at 5% interest earns around $4 per month, the $24 / month fee that Verizon was charging me was equivalent to me having $6K in the bank. Interesting, no?

So how do I fax now? I signed up for TrustFax, a service from Comodo. I'm very impressed with the service so far. For $4.95 I get 50 faxes per month, and extras are affordable. A net savings of $20 / month, pretty good I'd say.

I also wrote to my bank requesting that they waive the $12 monthly maintenance fee because I have such large loans with them. If they do not I'll try to cancel the amount.

As I get busier, its easy to ignore these small monthly fees, but it is important to keep an eye on them as they can really add up and impact not only cash flow but your bottom line. You can instead put the monthly savings into an interest bearing account, or pay off your debt at a faster rate for more savings.