Jun 30, 2008

The Drugstore Game Illustrated

Drugstore Game scenarios show you how to get a lot of stuff for just a little money, which is a concept that's easy enough to grasp. However, it took me a little longer to understand that buying more things can often cost less. Here's a good example:

I wasn't planning to go to CVS this week, but I realized on Sunday night that I am running out of overnight pads. So I started crafting some deal scenarios for today, the last day of the June deals. (I ended up not being able to go, so these deals are now entirely hypothetical.)

If I scanned my card at the front of the store and got a $3 off $10 CVS brand purchase, I could have done a great transaction. I used to be able to take those coupons for granted, but I haven't scanned my card for a couple of weeks now, and I've been reading about a reduction in scanner coupons, so I'm not sure I would have gotten one. However, if I had, I would have done the following deal:

1 CVS brand overnight pads - $2.69
1 CVS brand cotton swabs - $3.19
2 CVS brand petroleum jelly - $3.98
1 Gold Emblem candy - 99 cents
1 Huggies body wash - $3.49
Subtotal: $14.34 ($10.85 CVS brand items)
Coupons: $3 off $10 CVS, $2 off CVS skin care, $1 off Huggies
Total after coupons: $8.34, paid with $8 ECB and 34 cents on a gift card
Receive $8 in ECBs: $2 for the cotton swabs (monthly deal), $2 for the Huggies (monthly deal), and $4 for the petroleum jelly (hidden deal via A Full Cup)

In essence, I could get all of the above for 34 cents.

My back-up scenario was as follows:

1 CVS brand overnight pads - $2.69
1 CVS brand cotton swabs - $3.19
Subtotal: $5.88
Coupon: $2 off CVS skin care
Total after coupons: $3.88, paid with $3.49 ECB and 39 cents on a gift card
Receive $2 in ECBs for the swabs

I would lose $1.49 in ECBs in this scenario, which isn't bad, considering I'm buying something I really need, but it's definitely not as great as the first scenario, thanks to the $3 off $10 CVS brand purchase coupon.

And that, my friends, is why playing The Drugstore Game is so fun and rewarding: you can spend less and get more.

The Drugstore Game in June: Zero out of pocket at CVS

That's right! Thanks to ECBs and free gift cards that I earned through MyPoints, won from My Good Cents, and received for new prescriptions, I spent zero dollars out of pocket at CVS during the month of June.

The amazing thing is the tally of things that I picked up this month, all for free: lots of toilet paper and paper towels, Lysol wipes, Listerine SmartRinse (regular Listerine devastates my mouth, but this stuff is great), bandages, batteries, toothbrushes, diapers, wipes, and more.

I saved over $150 by shopping at CVS. That's the amount I would have paid at Target during my pre-Drugstore Game days, and that's assuming the best price scenario with sales and coupons.

I didn't even include in my $150 savings the stuff that I wouldn't have bought if it wasn't free or almost-free at CVS: things like deodorant, cotton swabs, cookies, and more. I'm now finding a use for these items, giving them away to friends and family, or donating them to a good cause. And I just have one thing to say . . .

I love The Drugstore Game!

Jun 29, 2008

New rewards program at Ralphs

Ralphs is all about change right now. Along with cutting their coupon policy, they've instituted a new rewards program called Ralphs rewards. You can visit the official web site and FAQ (and see for yourself that "rewards" is written rewards every time, even at the beginning of a sentence).

The new program incorporates Ralphs Club (which used to get you the sale price) and also has an earnings component. You earn one point per dollar spent. (Exclusions apply - scroll to the bottom of the page to see them. Does anyone know why milk is excluded?) You can also earn points by bringing your own shopping bags. Once per quarter, you'll receive a $5 "rewards certificate" for every 500 points earned. Points roll over from quarter to quarter, but reset to 0 every January 1.

Supposedly, they will also send coupons and "offer emails," but I'm a little skeptical that they'll do it often or that the coupons and offers will amount to more than a token savings.

At least converting the card was fairly easy. They put a very personable young man at the table near the main entrance, trained him to call every woman "Miss" no matter how old she was, and put out a plate of cookies that immediately attracted Tyler's attention. (I loved hearing the young man say "Miss" to the 80-year-old woman who wanted to know the effect of the new program on her Senior card. The answer: there are extra perks for seniors anymore.) All I had to do was hand over my Club card, wait for him to transcribe the old number onto the new card application, then fill in my name, address, phone number and email address. Normally, I wouldn't provide all that info but I haven't heard or experienced anything bad about spam or junk mail sent to Ralphs Club card holders, and I had to provide my address to receive those rewards certificates. And maybe they actually will email good coupons, especially with programs like Shortcuts now in place.

If you do get a new card, don't forget to register it with UPromise, if you're already a member there.

Jun 28, 2008

My toilet paper/paper towel dilemma: what I ended up doing & what I learned

Last month, I mentioned that we were running low on toilet paper and paper towels, and that I was torn between taking advantage of a good deal at Target and waiting for a great deal in The Drugstore Game. Mercedes of Common Sense with Money was kind enough to let me know that there was an upcoming Charmin/Bounty deal at CVS if I could wait a week or two, and Gina of Mommy Making Money was kind enough to send me coupons. So I waited.

And you know what? It all worked out. I acquired a lot of paper towels in that deal, and enough toilet paper to last us a little while. (I acquired more toilet paper this week, so I'm totally set now, and can wait for the next unbeatable deal to come along.)

I learned some useful things from this experience. Someone (I can't remember who anymore, maybe Mercedes?) kindly taught me about Hot Coupon World and A Full Cup, where I now find previews on upcoming deals at drugstores. And I've discovered that I can buy one or two things as I need them while I wait for a good deal. I can't always wait (the boys desperately needed new toothbrushes a couple of weeks ago, so I used the Buy One, Get One Free Oral B Stages coupon from the June 1 P&G circular at Target), but if I can, I will. It will save me money in the long run to wait for CVS and Walgreens deals because rolling store rewards significantly reduces my out of pocket expenses. In fact, if I have a gift card, I can pay zero out of pocket at CVS, so even if the price is higher than it is at Target, I'll still come out ahead at CVS. In sum, I've learned to trust The Drugstore Game.

Thanks for helping me learn, everyone!

Note: I haven't wanted to bog CFO down with the details of my drugstore transactions, but if you're interested in them, head over to CFO Reviews, where I've written about my latest plays.

Jun 27, 2008

New Ralphs coupon policy

Out here in California, we have Ralphs supermarkets, which are part of the Kroger family. Up until Wednesday, Ralphs doubled coupons with a face value of up to $1 (so you would get $2 off for a $1 coupon). But according to the LA Times, now they only double coupons with a value of up to 50-cents. They will take off $1 for coupons with a face value of 51 to 99 cents.

I used to do most of my grocery shopping at Ralphs, but five years ago, there was a widespread lockout/strike at the major chains. The supermarkets agreed that Ralphs would stay open and share the profits (which might have been held illegal, if memory serves). Since I felt bad crossing the picket line and didn't want to face the picketing workers, I started shopping almost exclusively at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. And for the last five years, I've done my weekly shopping at Trader Joe's. I particularly like their wide selection of and reasonable prices on organic and hormone/antibiotic free products.

But lately, as I've gotten into using coupons more thanks to The Drugstore Game, I was thinking about shopping more at Ralphs. With double coupons, there could be some really good deals to be had. And I did pick up a $330 gift card for $300. But this new coupon policy is putting a damper on my enthusiasm for shopping there again.

How much does a store's coupon policy affect whether you shop there?

Can you think your way to more money?

My dad has always been a big believer in positive thinking, so I was probably only 13 or 14 when I read Dr. Norman Vincent Peale's famous book, The Power of Positive Thinking. But maybe because positive thinking has always been a part of my life, I've never really paid much attention to it. I accept the basic premise, that we have the ability to shape our life with our thoughts. But can positive thinking increase your income or net worth?

Millionaire Mommy Next Door thinks so. She's in the middle of an "abundance experiment" in which she is "open[ing her] mind to receive increasingly more money." Her idea is to imagine how she'd spend increasing amounts of money and how she could bring in that money. She's a little worried that the experiment will make her focus on what she doesn't have and make her discontented, so she's also expressing gratitude for the good things in her life.

It's an interesting idea. MMND says the experiment is working and that she's started bringing in some money by selling things on Craigslist.

I think that the key here is, as MMND put it, opening your mind to new possibilities and considering things you haven't thought about before. In a way, MMND is just brainstorming over an extended period of time. But I think what's interesting is that, as she gets into the high dollar ranges, she'll have to consider more radical ideas. (She's currently at $51,200, and since she's doubling the amount each day, her next spending spree will be $102,400.)

So can radical ideas turn into more money? Of course they can! That's how many successful businesses get started. I'm going to start contemplating some radical ideas of my own.

How can you think your way to more money?

Image credit: Amazon.com - The Power of Positive Thinking(affiliate link).

Jun 26, 2008

More on Social Security Disability

When I was filling in for JLP at All Financial Matters last week, I discussed Social Security Disability benefits and they actually sounded pretty good. But it looks like they might be rather difficult to get. Beachgirl just shared that her dad, who hasn't been able to work for some time now, was just denied disability benefits. And from what I can gather, he's not able to work at all.

It would be one thing if the Social Security Administration's letter said that since he still has cognitive abilities, he could find a different job. But if I'm reading the portion she posted correctly, they're saying that they think he could still do his job as a maintenance worker. Huh?

Fortunately, her parents have consulted an attorney, who believes they have an excellent chance of winning an appeal. I hope he's right!

Jun 25, 2008

Start your holiday shopping now

Frugal Dad cracked me up with his post yesterday noting that there are only 185 days until Christmas. It seems kind of silly to be thinking of Christmas (or Hanukkah) in June. But it's an excellent idea.

My favorite holiday shopping strategy is to shop year round, starting with the after-Christmas sales in January. I always pick up cards, wrapping paper, ribbons, and other things that I wanted but balked at paying full price for.

I wish I could buy presents year round but we generally only exchange gifts with our immediate families and the tradition has generally been to buy what's asked for. And our relatives would not be receptive to me saying in January, "What do you think you'll want next holiday season, so that I can keep an eye out for stellar deals during the next twelve months?"

I do buy toys and books throughout the year, keeping my gift box stocked for birthdays (it seems like we're going to three or four birthday parties each month now). As I mentioned on Monday, there are some great deals on books in the Scholastic flyers that are sent home from school, so if your child's school participates, pick up some of those inexpensive books and stash them away for gift giving. (Update: Gina has a couple of ideas for getting the Scholastic deals if you don't have access to the flyers.)

I like Frugal Dad's idea of saving now (or throughout the year) in a "Christmas fund" so that you aren't scrambling to find money to buy gifts in December. If you have a big family and lots of presents to buy, you may want to propose that everybody cut back on the gift giving. There are lots of variations on this idea: only the kids get gifts; or kids get gifts from everyone, but the adults (or couples) draw hats and give and get only one gift a piece; or each family (not family member) gets one gift; Grandma and Grandpa give gifts to everyone, but everyone else's gift giving is cut back in some way. And so on and so forth. If you make the proposal now, well before the holiday season, everyone will have a chance to think about and get used to the new tradition.

What are your best holiday savings ideas?

Image credit: Amazon.com - Holiday Two-Stack by Elegant Cheese Cakes(affiliate link). It's $350 with shipping, so I don't recommend buying it, but isn't it gorgeous?

Jun 24, 2008

Review: MySurvey.com

I've been recommending MySurvey.com to subscribers for about a month now, so I thought it was time to write a review. (If you've signed up for MySurvey via my affiliate link, thank you!) I've been a MySurvey member since February, and I love how easy it is. I just spend a few minutes every few days answering a survey, and I earn points. (It never takes me as long to complete a survey as the estimate says it will.) 1000 points can be redeemed for a $10 check (or something else). And that's it.

MySurvey will usually email you to tell you that there's a survey to complete. But every day that you log in, you earn an entry into that month's sweepstakes. In fact, MySurvey usually has a few different sweepstakes going on, and entering them is easy. (Each completed survey also earns you a sweepstakes entry.)

My only complaint is that points are rather slow to build. That might just be due to my demographic and personal information, however, since other bloggers seem to accumulate points much faster. (It probably doesn't help that I select "prefer not to answer" whenever possible.) Once I did build up enough points to redeem, my check arrived in about three weeks.

So, if you have a few minutes each day and are looking for a simple way to earn a little extra cash, I recommend MySurvey. And if you're already a MySurvey member, please leave a comment and let us know what your experience has been.

Disclosure: If you sign up for MySurvey via my affiliate link, I'll receive 150 points. Thanks!

Jun 23, 2008

Inexpensive Birthday "Cards"

If your child's school participates in the Scholastic book flyer sales, I highly recommend buying the 95-cent books that are frequently available. Sometimes the books aren't that great, but sometimes they are quite good. I got a paperback version of the Chicken Little book pictured here for just 95-cents.

The best thing about 95-cent books is that they make a great birthday "card." Just write a message on the inside cover. Ninety-five cents is cheaper than almost any birthday card you can find in a store, and the book won't be looked at and thrown away after the thank-you card is written.

You can purchase the hardcover version of the Chicken Little book depicted at Amazon.comfor $4.00 (affiliate link). Or just keep an eye out for the deals in the flyers - they sometimes repeat!

Money Saving Tip: Tint Your Windows

I love our house, and I especially love its location. But if I could change one thing, it would be its orientation to the sun. You see, in the summer, our house gets full sun on the east side in the morning, and full sun on the west side in the afternoon. It's utterly devastating - without air conditioning, the temperature in our house would be over 90 degrees on the hottest days when it's 115 degrees outside. Needless to say, our air conditioner works overtime on such days, and it shows on our electricity bill.

But things could be much worse. A few years ago, after we'd lived in our house for a couple of years, we had our windows tinted. Under our homeowners' association rules, we couldn't go that dark. But even the mid-level tint that we chose has made a huge difference.

The window tinting cost $600 about four years ago. That first year, I estimated our savings at $300. I haven't done the math since, but I assume our savings have increased with the rising cost of electricity. So tinting our windows has saved us over $1200 and counting.

If you're looking to reduce your cooling costs and the temperature in your house rises due to exposure to the sun, I encourage you to look into window tinting. Most of the house maintenance and improvement research falls on Marc's shoulders, and we had the work done several years ago. So I don't remember much about the experience anymore. I do recall that Marc found out what we needed to know online, then contacted several installers. We had one consultation, during which we picked the tint we wanted and the man (owner? sales manager?) took measurements. Then it took about a day for the man who actually applied the window film to do the work (we had every single window and our big sliding glass doors done). It was worth every penny!

Image credit: Amazon.com - Maximum Heat Control Window Film (affiliate link).

Jun 20, 2008

Work/Life Balance (or Blog/Life Balance)

A couple of blogs I read have recently ceased because the time commitment was too overwhelming for the authors. The authors are parents who wanted to spend more time with their kids, and I found myself questioning whether I'm shortchanging my boys by doing as much as I do. Although I would definitely have more time for them if I cut back on my commitments, I think they get plenty of me and we're all fine. I really enjoy the things I do, and I think it's good for them to see that Mommy has a full life of her own. It does, of course, help tremendously that my husband does at least half of the childcare, probably more.

But since work/blog/life balance has been on my mind lately, I was really struck by an article at Law.com about trying to bring in business as an associate. (Law firms are generally divided into "partners," who own the firm and make the most money, and "associates," who are employees of the firm and may be invited to become a partner, typically in the 7th or 8th year, though that varies.)

The article includes the stories of several young associates who spend quite a bit of time cultivating relationships that they hope will eventually lead to a new client. It also mentions that many associates don't bother.

It was the first associate they profiled that caught my attention, since she's a mom with a young kid who billed 2150 hours last year and spends an additional 20 hours a month on developing business. To put that in perspective, 40 hours for 50 weeks equals 2000 hours. An attorney works more hours than he or she bills, so this attorney is working at least 45 hours per week without taking a vacation (probably more). Additionally, she spends about five hours per week volunteering and developing relationships that she hopes will lead to more.

I don't know this woman personally, but the article at least makes her sound content with her choices. I know many attorneys who wouldn't be, but the vast majority of attorneys who are unhappy with their jobs wouldn't bother cultivating relationships in the first place. So I think it's probable that she's fairly content with her choices and ambitions.

Do I do this? No, but I'm not trying to make partner, nor am I worried about job security. On the other hand, if I didn't have kids and had more time, I would definitely do this. I think the wonderful thing about it is that you are cultivating relationships that can lead to true friendships and maybe help you in the future, even if they don't lead to a future attorney-client relationship. Networking is incredibly important in business, so why wouldn't you do it?

What do you think?

Jun 18, 2008

Price per diaper

Angie at Baby Cheapskate has compiled a very handy list of the number of diapers in each package of Pampers, Huggies and Luvs. This new list includes the "price to beat" and replaces Angie's old "price to beat" list. The new list will make it super easy to figure out the price per diaper when you see a sale price (just divide the price by the number of diapers in the package) so you can quickly determine whether it's a irresistible deal. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who's noticed the way Target conveniently removes the diaper size and quantity from the picture of the diaper box in the Sunday circulars. Thanks, Angie!

Jun 17, 2008

Workout Tip: Change your clothes when you get home

It's been nearly three months since I decided I had to make some drastic changes to improve my health and appearance. I'm disappointed to report that there isn't much outward change. But,
I'm working out almost every day and I'm eating better. Baby steps, right?

One thing I do to make exercise easier is change right into my workout clothes when I get home from work. I make dinner, do the dishes, bathe the kids, and do book time and bedtime, all in my workout clothes. As soon as the kids are in bed, I can jump on the treadmill or turn on a yoga DVD without having to think.

So that's my Works For Me Wednesday tip: Change into your workout clothes when you get home so there's nothing to slow you down when it's time.

For more tips, head over to Rocks In My Dryer.

Jun 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day!

I hope all of you dads out there have a spectacular day today. And that your child isn't reluctant to actually wish you a happy Father's Day . . . not that something like that happened around here.

Jun 12, 2008

Are college students covered by their parents' insurance policies?

If you've got a child headed off to college in the fall, it's not too early to start looking into their insurance coverage while they're away. I found a handy little column in the June issue of Westways, so I'll share what they say:
  • Health insurance - Most health insurance policies cover dependents up to 25 years of age if they're in school full-time. You'll want to check your own plan for its specifics, though, and talk with your child about what "full-time" means. (One dropped class could mean no health insurance - yikes!) You should also take a look at what out-of-network costs might be if your child's school is far away. If your policy doesn't cover your child, or you're worried about those out-of-network costs, you can purchase a temporary policy - I seem to recall my schools always offered one, though I never bought it (they always seemed a little shady to me - maybe they were actually catastrophic policies? - so make sure you read the fine print).
  • Property insurance - If you can still claim your child as a dependent, she will most likely be deemed part of your household and her possessions will be covered under your homeowner's policy while she's away at school. But the coverage might be limited, so check your policy and decide whether renter's insurance might be a better bet. In this situation, I would probably call up my insurance agent for guidance.
One final note: If you're bearing any kind of responsibility for your child's college education, you may want to make sure your life insurance coverage is adequate. It's occurred to me that our very first term policies will expire just as Alex heads off to college, and the polices that we acquired shortly after his birth will expire while he's still in school. I expect our finances to be such that we won't need additional policies at that point, but if we aren't as financially secure as I hope we'll be, I'll consider five-year term policies so that money won't be a source of stress in the event of the unthinkable.

Jun 11, 2008

Car insurance that works the way it's supposed to

Remember that tiny dent that I mentioned Alex put into the car parked next to us a few weeks ago because I wasn't watching closely enough? Well, the other car's owner went ahead and called his insurance company, and our insurance agent called us.

And although I wasn't looking forward to the call, it wasn't so bad.

First of all, I want to say that I love our insurance agent. He's nice, professional and competent, and he's also straight forward and helpful.

With that in mind, he gave me the option of deciding whether to claim the incident on our insurance or handle it ourselves. And he helped me make the decision by giving me all of the information I needed.

The damage to the other car is $300. Our deductible applies only to damage to our own vehicle, so the insurance company will cover the entire cost. Because the claim is a low amount, it won't impact our premiums.

The only thing to be concerned about is the possibility of losing our good driver discount if there's another incident in the next three years. (The discount is $80 per year.) Hopefully, that won't be something we have to think about again, though!

One thing I wish I could find out is what the other car's owner thought about before he filed his claim with his insurance company. He did absolutely nothing wrong (both our cars were parked within the lines) so it seems like the claim shouldn't impact his policy at all. And since we'll pay for the damage, his insurance company isn't out any money either. But I've read that multiple small claims can result in higher premiums - although this could apply only to home insurance policies, since there will rarely be a responsible third-party to absorb the cost of those claims. Hm, does anybody know?

All in all, I'm really pleased that our car insurance policy seems to be doing exactly what it's supposed to do, even in a very minor incident!

Jun 10, 2008

My Personal Finance Tipping Point

Tipping point: The point at which a slow gradual change becomes irreversible and then proceeds with gathering pace.

I was in my mid-twenties when I graduated from law school. I had a lot of student loan debt, which didn't really sink in until I looked at the monthly payment amounts. Goodness, that was a lot of money each month!

That realization was my personal finance tipping point, the moment when I realized that I needed to learn about personal finance and change my financial situation. Fortunately for me, I had been dating Marc for a while and we had decided to move in together with the understanding that we'd be getting married soon. So at about the same time I had to start paying back my student loans, I also had someone to share living expenses with.

Also at about that time, I discovered The Dollar Stretcher. I learned about living within (and preferably below) my means, how to match coupons with sales, and how to cut expenses. I learned to track my expenses, make a budget, and take control of my finances. I was never irresponsible about my money, but for the first time, I actually felt in control.

Since graduating from law school, managing my family's finances has become my favorite hobby. I am always looking for ways to minimize our expenses while maximizing our lifestyle, build up our savings, and invest for the future.

But as far as I've come, I still have a lot to learn, which is one of the great things about personal finance. I am educating myself more about investing so that when my student loans are paid off (which should be fairly soon!), I can invest more of our money as wisely as possible.

What was your personal finance tipping point?

This post is part of Free From Broke's personal finance tipping point contest. Check it out to learn how you can win a $25 Amazon gift certificate.

Jun 8, 2008

Surprising things that sell on eBay

As I mentioned previously, A Full Cup is one of my new resources in The Drugstore Game. While reading posts there, I happened upon this thread, which reports that the following items that people normally throw out actually sell on eBay:
Who knew?

Jun 6, 2008

More Drugstore Game Resources

Last month, over at CFO Reviews, I posted a list of sites that I check to find out the latest drugstore deals. Since then, I've added a few more sites to my Google Reader that I think are worth sharing:
  • Centsible Shopper - Lots of Walgreens deals and general frugality articles.
  • A Full Cup - A forum site with "sticky" threads for the circulars (including future sales) and helpful posts (like CVS register logic). There are also lots of answers to questions you might have (such as, "Will this coupon work for this deal?") and deal ideas.
  • Hot Coupon World - Another forum site with deal ideas, answers to questions, and advance notice of what's going to be on sale. (Thanks to Mercedes for introducing me to HCW!)
Also, if you run into a situation where your ECBs don't print, you can call CVS ExtraCare customer service at 1-800-SHOP-CVS. Have your ExtraCare card number and your receipts in front of you when you call. I had to call this week when the ECBs for the Pampers and Bounty/Charmin/Duracell deal didn't print. The customer service representative pulled up my account, went through the information on the receipts with me, and told me she would "send it up," and that if I didn't hear from her, all was well, and my ECBs would print four days later. It's definitely not ideal, but better than losing the ECBs completely. I got my ECBs at the scanner at the front of the store so that I could use them right away instead of having to make a purchase so they would print at the register.

Similarly, if your Register Rewards don't print at Walgreens (and apparently this isn't uncommon), you can call Catalina customer service at 1-888-8coupon (select option 3) or use the online contact form at the Catalina web site. (Catalina is the name of the machine that prints the RRs and coupons out.)

Finally, some printable coupon tips:
  • If a coupon won't print, trying using a different browser. In other words, if you're using Firefox, try printing the coupon from Explorer, and vice versa. Thanks to More Than Enough for the tip!
  • If you don't need the coupon immediately or you're having trouble printing it, click on the "help" link. It will sometimes take you to a page where you can enter your mailing address, and the coupon will be sent to you. If that doesn't work, you can look for the company's contact information and ask to have the coupon sent to you (this doesn't always work but is worth trying). Thanks to My Good Cents for these tips!

Jun 3, 2008

Something I wish I'd known three months ago: Some credit card issuers do not allow merchants to impose a maximum

As you might recall, back in March, Marc and I bought a new car. I had intended to make a down payment of over $10,000 on my credit card, but the sales manager told me that the maximum I could pay with a credit card was $5,000. When I mentioned this on CFO, I received a comment from MITBeta stating that Visa and Mastercard do not allow merchants to impose minimum or maximum limits on purchases.

I had known that merchants can't impose a minimum purchase amount, and that the mom and pop stores that have signs that say "Credit card purchase requires $10 minimum" were in violation of their merchant agreement. But it never occurred to me that the opposite might also be true.

I was reminded of this issue by this Bankrate.com article. The author quotes a Visa rep confirming that their "rules require merchants to always honor valid Visa cards regardless of purchase amount -- large or small." (Mastercard has the same rules, but American Express allows merchants to limit transactions.)

If I had known this back in March, I definitely would have insisted on being allowed to make the full down payment that I wanted to make. And, according to the Bankrate article, the dealership would most likely have given in when I informed them that I would pursue the issue with Visa. The article's author points out that the dealer might want to re-negotiate a deal under such circumstances, but it wouldn't have worked in our case. Marc and I had made clear when negotiating our old car's trade-in value that we were prepared to walk away.

We don't plan to buy a new car for at least another five years, but I plan on paying cash for that car. In fact, I've already started saving money for it each month. And in five years, I'll be paying for that new car with a credit card!

Jun 2, 2008

The hardest part is letting go . . . and my oldest is only three!

I don't know how I'm going to make it through to my kids' adulthood when I'm already having trouble letting go. The first incident happened when we were out this weekend. Tyler tripped and bit into his bottom lip, resulting in a little bit of bleeding. He cried for a few minutes, and then was his usual cheery self. I, on the other hand, found myself reluctant to put him down. As I fought the urge to resist his efforts to climb out of my arms, I thought to myself, It's not as if I can keep him from walking for the rest of his life! But for a brief moment there, I was tempted.

The second incident happened today at Alex's preschool, when I overheard another boy telling him he was a baby and Alex objected that he wasn't. I had to stifle the impulse to tell the other boy in no uncertain terms not to call my son a baby. By the time I had finished what I was doing and walked over to Alex, the conversation had moved on.

There is nothing I can do to stop my sons from growing up. Nor do I want to. My greatest desire for them is that they grow up to be independent, confident, content men who can take care of themselves. And that'll never happen if Mommy is always interfering.

But I am picturing a little nerve center in my brain that fires, however briefly, whenever something happens to my children. It sends out a signal that says, "Protect them at all costs!" And there's no way for me to stop the signal from being sent, I can only decide whether I am going to obey and step in, or fight the urge until it passes.

Does anybody else have the same little nerve center in their brain? Please tell me I'm not the only one!