Money LIfe Heatlh

Free $25 visa prepaid Gift card

2007-03-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

Go to mazdausa.com or here for the quick link.

You have to fill out the information and wait for an email from mazda. Print out the information. Then you have to go into the dealership and test drive a car. Get the dealer to fill out the information on your email and mail you that out.

Free T-Shirt

2007-03-11T21:28:00.000-07:00

This offer takes a bit of time to complete and you probably will not see the shirt till the end of the year.

Go here for the website -> P&G 500 t-shirt
Go here for the codes -> here

Old spice free razor

2007-03-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to see how long I can go this year without having to buy a new razor. I have about 3 free razors that I still haven't used. This will make 4.

Old Spice Free Razor

The Death of a legend

2007-03-07T12:32:00.000-08:00

According the news, in the latest issue of Captain America due out today, Captain America will be shot by a sniper and die. He was one of my favorite heroes too. It does not mean that he will come back in the future, but for now he will be dead.

If anyone has kept up with the Civil War saga, you will know that in the end of the Civil War, Captain America gave up the fight and was arrested by the government. The news says that he will be shot on the way out of his trial.

Also, Marvel comics have been hinting about what the Punisher will do next. Towards the end of the Civil War, you find out that the Punisher idolizes Captain America. It is even mentioned that the Punisher is the Captain America for a different generation. At the end of the Civil War saga, Captain America loses his mask and it show the Punisher picking it up. Which leads me to believe that Marvel might turn Punisher into the next Captain America.

Heres the link to the news story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070307/ap_on_en_ot/captain_america

Coverage on Rental Cars

2007-03-03T00:53:00.000-08:00

This is a comment I left on another bloggers site and I felt is was so good that I should leave it here for people to read.

I used to work for Hertz. After working there. I believe the only insurance from Hertz that I would ever get is the Loss Damage Waiver. I know some car locations are not picky when you return a car, but some are and you never know when you are going to be in a place that will be picky. Some places freak out over a little scratch and some only worry when there is a big problem.

That being said if you want to rent at hertz check to see if there are any discount codes. AAA will always give a 10% discount. If you say you are an alumni to a specific school you may get a discount and added benefits...like minimum age fee waived. Also there is an Employee Family discount code that I have somewhere in my apt (I am too lazy right now to get up from the computer and get the code) that gives a 30% discount with discounted insurance coverage. If you want the code just let me know.

One last thing, the cost for the insurance is not uniform. It varies by type of car rented. So if you budgeted for the cost of insurance for a small car yet were forced into a "free" upgrade, the insurance will be higher. The insurance also varies by what state you rent in. Some states have a higher cost in the Loss damage waiver than other states.

Using a credit card for insurance coverage on a rental car is a good idea for someone who does not have insurance. Just make sure you get all the details on what your credit card will do for you. The insurance that the credit card gives you is usually secondary. If you were involved in an accident, some credit card companies require you to charge everything on the credit card and keep the balance until the problem is solved, which might give you extra finance charges. Finally, credit card companies normally only cover specific cars. Thus, you should figure out what cars the credit card covers. This would offset the chance that you get another "free" upgrade into a car that your credit card company would not cover and then be out of luck if an accident happened.

$25 Dining Certificate For McCormick & Schmick's With Online Reservation

2007-02-22T10:59:00.000-08:00

McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants are offering $25 off certificate if you make an online reservation. Thanks mofomo

Download and print this form
Make an online reservation
Write your confirmation number on the form
Enjoy your dinner

Found on slickdeal.net

Free Chocolate

2007-02-06T13:52:00.000-08:00

Follow this link to a coupon that allows you to get a free choxie candy bar ($2) value at target. You can print as many coupons as you want to get as many bars as you want.

It works. My wife and I went and got 22 bars from the local target.

The coupon was found a slickdeals.net

Free Round Table, In sacramento area.

2007-02-03T19:20:00.000-08:00

I heard on the radio that if you donate blood this week you can get a free round table pizza.

$50 free money for opening free checking with Wachovia

2007-02-03T19:18:00.000-08:00

Go here read the details.

Downside, I believe that you will get a hard credit pull.

Unlimited Free Pretzels at Auntie Anne’s!!

2007-02-03T19:16:00.000-08:00

Go to Auntie Anne’s website

go through the process

Then hit display coupon, recycle and reprint with new coupon as much as you want
check out the link here.

$75 Bank of America Bonus for first timer!

2007-02-03T19:15:00.000-08:00

Go here and read the details too!

I am still alive!

2007-02-03T19:10:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

I know I have not posted on here lately. It is mostly because I started my Grad classes and it has made my life very busy. I am still working out, yet I missed a couple day this past week. I have found out that when I get stressed I tend to eat more. It happened once this week. So far the most I have lost is 4.5 lbs, but I gained 2 of them back this week. I have found some great offers that I will be posting up soon. Also, I opened a sharebuilder account and this coming Tuesday I will become a stockholder.

Dumb Credit Card Offers

2007-01-25T09:22:00.000-08:00

I have a Disney Visa because I like the reward dollars and we use the rewards quite often. With the card you get 1% of all charges back as Disney Rewards Dollars. It builds up over time and we use the rewards dollars when we go to Disneyland. But recently I received a promotion from them in the mail stating that if you spend more that $600.00 in a given area (ie. food, gas, entertainment), they will double the rewards for every dollar about $600.00. It is a bad promotion for someone like me who does not spend over $600.00 in any given field and its not like I am going to go out of my way to spend more just to get in the double area. I would understand a promotion like, Double Rewards on all gas bought this month. That would benefit me very much.

Tues 1/23/07 and Wed 1/24/07

2007-01-25T09:18:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday I did a short workout on the hardest level on the bike machine. Unfortunately I was interrupted half way through. So instead of doing a 15 min bike ride, I did 1 10 min and 1 5 min.

Anyways
15 minutes on the bicycle burning 152 calories
5 sets of 10 reps @ 40lbs on the machine incline press

On Wednesday, I did not work out because of my left foot. I went to help my wife move stuff out of her classroom and my foot started hurting. This was the same pain from Sunday that I think was caused by running.

Mon 1/22/07

2007-01-23T08:29:00.000-08:00

15 minutes on the bicycle burning 132 calories
5 sets of 10 reps @ 40lbs on the machine incline press

Since school is starting in exactly a week, this week, I will try to come up with a workout strategy that is only 15-30 minutes. Today's bike ride was a mountain course on a high level so It was tough.

Sat 1/20/07 and Sun 1/21/07

2007-01-23T08:26:00.000-08:00

Sorry, my Internet has not been working very well the last couple of days.

My foot was hurting from the run on Friday. So on Saturday, I went for a walk with my wife as my exercise and since my foot got worse on Sunday, I did not work out at ll on Sunday.

Fri. 1/19/07

2007-01-19T14:34:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to use the treadmill. Running was a nice change, however, I am using shoes that are about 8 years old and they ended up tearing the back of my right heal. So, I am in a little bit of pain right now. I did like how I could set the machine to be used until I hit a certain calorie mark.

34 minutes and 10 seconds on the treadmill burning 300 calories
5 sets of 10 reps @ 40lbs on the machine incline press

Thur. 1/18/07

2007-01-18T21:10:00.001-08:00

30 minutes on the bicycle burning 272 calories
5 sets of 10 reps @ 40lbs on the machine incline press

Wed 1/17/07

2007-01-17T15:44:00.000-08:00

30 minutes on the bicycle burning 270 calories
10 sets of 10 reps @ 40lbs on the machine incline press

Buying School Books

2007-01-17T12:44:00.000-08:00

Today I bought my school books. I drove to the University and got the isbn #s for the books and came home and order online. I have four classes and currently three of them have posted their books. The fourth class is and MIS class and I am guessing that it will have an online text which might cost about $30. But for now I can get the books for the other three classes. For one of the classes I bought the book at the school because it was a bundle with other books. But the last two classes I bought the books through amazon. Amazon is currently having a deal where if you buy at least $150 worth of books from them they will discount $15. However, I found it cheaper to buy the books from the used. Here is how it stacked up:

MBA 230 $112.06 --- $112.06 -bought it at school
MBA 260 --- --- --- -No book yet
MBA 270 $158.25--- $105.55 -saved $52.70
MBA 280 $102.75 ---$38.48 -saved $64.27
Total $373.06 ---$256.09 -saved $116.97 or 32%

Its still a lot but it saved money.

Tues 1/16/07

2007-01-16T13:03:00.000-08:00

After yesterday's mountain bike exercises, it took it a little easier today. I was still sore though.

60 minutes on the bicycle burning 378 calories
5 sets of 10 reps @ 50lbs on the machine pulley

Mon 1/15/07

2007-01-15T16:05:00.000-08:00

Today I tried a different program on the bicycle. I normally use the fat burning program, today I did the mountain course. It hurt so much. My muscles burn right now. But the new program burned more calories than than fat burning program.

60 minutes on the bicycle burning 475 calories
5 sets of 10 reps @ 70lbs on the machine pulley

100 Picture Prints From Winkflash For .99 Shipping

2007-01-15T16:03:00.000-08:00

Found at Fatwallet.com. Click this link and you can get 100 picture prints from Winkflash for just .99 shipping. Enter code: CA59WT43 Deal is for new customers only

How to break an addiction: Ebay

2007-01-15T13:03:00.000-08:00

I love to go on eBay. I shop there in spurts. I can go for a period of time and bid on stuff and then I can go for periods of time when I do not even go on eBay. EBay is a good place to make money by selling old belongings or to find artifacts that just can not be found in stores anymore. But when you get addicted like I sometimes do, I remember something I learned in my last class. Its called the winners curse.

The winner's curse is a phenomenon akin to a Pyrrhic victory that occurs in common value auctions with incomplete information. In short, the winner's curse says that in such an auction, the winner will tend to overpay.

Now every time I go to place a bid I have to judge how much I want to spend on the item before hand. I try to stick to that amount too. I believe when you get stuck in the option of where you bid on an item and keep bidding on an item after you keep getting outbid the winners curse comes into play. This game of outbidding will most likely cause you to bid on an item just to have the satisfaction of winning the auction. But if you stick to your predetermined amount you will be just fine. Assuming that you did research on what a fair price on the item might be.

If I think of anymore ways to beat an eBay addictions. I will post later.

The basics of Compound Interest

2007-01-15T10:27:00.000-08:00

A dollar invested at a 10% return will be worth $1.10 in a year. Invest that $1.10 and get 10% again, and you'll end up with $1.21 two years from your original investment. The first year earned you only $0.10, but the second generated $0.11. This is compounding at its most basic level: gains begetting more gains. Increase the amounts and the time involved, and the benefits of compounding become much more pronounced.

Compound interest can be calculated using the following formula: FV = PV (1 + i)^N

FV = Future Value (the amount you will have in the future)
PV = Present Value (the amount you have today)
i = Interest (your rate of return or interest rate earned)
N = Number of Years (the length of time you invest)

-from stocks class on morningstars website

Trick Question

2007-01-15T10:24:00.001-08:00

Would you rather have $10,000 per day for 30 days or a penny that doubled in value every day for 30 days?

Today, we know to choose the doubling penny, because at the end of 30 days, we'd have about $5 million versus the $300,000 we'd have if we chose $10,000 per day.

Sixteen ways being disorganized costs you money

2007-01-14T22:31:00.000-08:00

I felt that this was important. I found it recently. I too am trying to become more organized.

Check this out.

5 things you did not know about me

2007-01-14T22:23:00.000-08:00

1. I am a Disney freak
2. I am currently a full time student working on my MBA.
3. I am married.
4. I have a wife that after months of hounding me to workout, my wife seems to not care about her own health and also as long as the bills are paid, she seems to not care about finances either. Hopefully, I can help change this....I got her to workout today (which is a good start).
5. I worked for a year to get my wife through her credentials and now she is working so I can get my MBA.

Week in review: work out

2007-01-14T22:21:00.000-08:00

This is the first week that I have consistently worked out. I was able to burn 1571 calories. I believe I have lost about 2lbs total over the week. Which, from what I have heard, is really good. I plan to keep it up and continue this workout. This upcoming week, I plan to start running too.

Sun 1/14/07

2007-01-14T21:52:00.000-08:00

60 minutes on the bicycle burning 434 calories
5 sets of 10 reps @ 50lbs on the machine pully
5 sets of 10 reps @ 50lbs on the seated machine pully
5 sets of 10 reps @ 50lbs on the machine incline press

Today my wife worked out with me too.

Sat 1/13/07

2007-01-13T13:07:00.000-08:00

60 minutes on the bicycle burning 398 calories
5 sets of 10 reps @ 50lbs on the machine pully
5 sets of 10 reps @ 50lbs on the seated machine pully

Fri. 1/12/07

2007-01-12T16:52:00.000-08:00

Today I had to do a short exercise due to time constraint.

20 minutes on the bicycle burning 120 calories
6 sets of 10 reps @ 50lbs on the machine pully

Thur. 1/11/07

2007-01-11T15:57:00.000-08:00

35 minutes on the bicycle burning 204 calories
5 sets of 10 reps @ 50lbs on the machine incline press

The last set on the machine incline press hurt so much.

Wed 1/10/07

2007-01-10T13:34:00.000-08:00

30 minutes on the bicycle burning 185 calories
10 sets of 10 reps @ 50lbs on the machine pully

Tues. 1/9/07

2007-01-09T14:09:00.001-08:00

20 minutes on the bicycle burning 127 calories
5 sets of 10 reps @ 50lbs on the machine pully

Eat 3 meals a day

2007-01-08T12:04:00.000-08:00

I was reading Men's Health and it said that eating 3 meals a day is a way to boost your metabolism. For me, I only eat 2 meals a day. I always skip breakfast. I will try to start to eat breakfast now too.

First Workout of the New Year

2007-01-08T11:53:00.000-08:00

OK, so I am not the most in shape person, but I decided to get into a regular workout routine. I recently decided to go back to school full time to get my MBA, I have found that I have a lot more free time than normal. After going through bouts of depression (I do not know if I am over), I have come to the conclusion that a healthy workout routine will help me get out of it. I believe the depression was brought on by not working. You see, I have always worked and held a job, even while going to school I had a 32 hr a week job and now that I do not have a job, I believe that brought on the depression. Working out is supposed to help fight depression. Also, on the plus side looking good helps a person get a job because a good looking person is more likely to get a job over a more qualified uglier person. Anyways, here is what I did today:

15 minutes on the bicycle burning 103 calories
5 sets of 10 reps @ 50lbs on the machine incline press

I will keep a log on this site as to how much I do at every workout.

Great Places to find discounts

2006-12-10T03:35:00.000-08:00

Here is my short list for now. I will add ones that I like as time goes on:

http://www.retailmenot.com/
http://www.ecoupons.com/stores/
http://currentcodes.com/storelist.php

Free Directory Assistance

2006-12-10T03:14:00.000-08:00

Phone companies are charging us $1.00 or more for using 411 - information calls.

When you need to use the 411/information option, simply dial 1-800-FREE-411 or 1-800-373-3411 without incurring a charge. Go on...program it into your cell phone now, you'll thank me later!

I found this on this website

I just got a Free $25 Gift Certificate for amazon.com

2006-12-01T11:32:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

I just went to my local Pulte Homes and got a $25 gift certificate for amazon.com. Supposedly this is a new promotion through Pulte Homes, Del Webb, and Divosta Homes. All you have to do is go to either of their websites and fill out an online form. Then you go to your local sales office and give them the coupon you get after filling out the online form and they will print you amazon gift certificate for you. It was easy and only took a couple of minutes. The sales associate was very nice too.

Here are the websites for the companies:

www.delwebb.com
www.pulte.com
www.divosta.com

Black Friday

2006-11-12T15:37:00.000-08:00

Here are websites to start helping you for the upcoming black Friday:

http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/
www.fatwallet.com
http://bfads.net/adscans/ -This one is my favorite so far because it has actual scans of the adds.

How to save money on rentals cars.

2006-09-15T23:24:00.000-07:00

When renting a car, check to see if you have any club discounts. When I worked at Hertz they had discount programs with clubs like AARP and AAA and for just about any business. Just call them up before you rent a vehicle and ask if you get a discount for your club or business. Also, usually clubs have coupons, AAA for example always has a coupon for Hertz.
If you want a nice car, you can rent a car based on what is called the rental car roulette. This is based on the notion that you book for the cheapest car possible and most likely the rental company will have to place you into a larger vehicle. This works only if you do not need a specific size vehicle because there is still a chance that you will get a small car.
The optional services are always optional. With Hertz you can rent a car and take no additional insurance and have no insurance at all of your own however that is very bad because if you get in an accident you are going to be destroyed financially. I believe it is best to take the Loss Damage waiver no matter what. All the other insurance is up to you. You normally never need the Personal effects and personal accident coverage. The liability is only recommended if you do not have adequate coverage on your policy. The gas I would never recommend.

Health Notice: Memory

2006-09-07T14:18:00.000-07:00

According to the last issue of Men's Health. Blueberries can help stop memory loss.

I earned $20 from Unwired Buyer

2006-08-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

Check out Unwired Buyer. I earned $20 free from them on my first use.

Requirements:

Must use the service to bid on an auction using their phone within 30 days.
Users must have an eBay Feedback score of 10 or more (or the user must have been a registered eBay user for over 12 months).
Bonus will be paid through PayPal Only.
Bonus will be paid to qualified users within 2-7 working days from date of first bid.
Offer expires within 30 days of sign up.

You can sign up online or you can let me refer you and I will earn an extra $5.

Unwired Buyer is a service that will contact you through a cell phone to see if you want to place a bid on an item that is on your watch list on ebay. To get the $20 you have to place a bid through Unwired Buyer. However, you do not have to win the item, just place the bid. The best auctions (and the one that I used) were these type of auctions. I did not even win the auctions, but if you do win you are only out a penny, giving you a net total of $19.99 earned.

Money 101

2006-08-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

Money 101

Everyone needs money. It is a necessity to live. I will be trying to share with you my knowledge of money. If you have any questions, I will try to answer them.

First off, debt is usually bad. However, some debt can be good. The only good debt that I have come across is a mortgage because it is most likely leading you to a bigger payoff in the end. A car loan is not good because it does not lead to a bigger payoff. Credit cards, student loans, and personal loans are always bad. (I will confess…I am still in the process of working off my debt.) Furthermore, I am not saying credit cards are bad. I have one that I love to use because I get the rewards from the card and then pay it off every month.

Secondly, set your priorities. What matters most to you? What do you want to do with your life? Do you want to be filthy rich or just wealthy or well off?

Third, set a budget towards your priorities.

Fourth, make sure you start your IRA/401k. It is always better to start this as soon as possible. If you start earlier you will have more money in the end when you retire. Also, do not count on the government helping you when you retire.

Possibly more to come on this…..

The Beginning

2006-08-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

Hi,

This is the first post to my Blog. This is where I hope to provide anyone who wants advice on Money, Life, and Health. Anyone is allowed to ask questions. I will also frequently add my own experiences on these subjects.