Archive for the ‘Smart Purchases’ Category
-
Why I Buy Gift Cards
Last week, MoneyNing wrote an article about gift cards. In it, he states many of the reasons that gift cards are evil. He’s not the only one against gift cards. Jim from Blueprint to Financial Prosperity thinks they are stupid as well. In many ways, I agree with both of these writers.
They show many reasons why not to buy gift cards including the following:They expire - This is true in some states, but not in all states. In general, I haven’t seen any expire before a super tremendously long length of time - […]
-
Does FoodSaver Save You Money?
A month ago, my wife and I decided to take the plunge and purchase this deluxe FoodSaver model. For those of you unfamiliar with FoodSaver, it’s the brand name of a device that allows you to store food in vacuum sealed bag. This allows many foods to stay fresh two or three times longer than it would have ordinarily. I’ve seen prices range from $20 (typically used on Craigslist) to $200 (the fancy model that we bought). However was this a good financial decision?
In the month that we have had it, we’ve used quite extensively. […] -
Some Ways That We Are Thinking Small
I’ve previously mentioned the outstanding Mini Cooper billboard that I pass everyday on the way to work. While it’s no longer functioning, it used to flashes new quotes. A couple of examples would be, “The Next Big Thing in Small” or “Small is the New Big.” I like to think that I’m completely impervious to advertising, but sometimes I wonder. I’m not sure if I’m ever going to buy a Mini Cooper, but I’m thinking that the sign was really onto something.
When my wife and I were planning our a wedding a year ago, we made […] -
Five Things I Will Spend My Dimes On
Golbguru of Money Matters and More Musings is one of my favorite writers. Just yesterday, he wrote 12 Things I Will Never Spend A Dime On. Interestingly, I found 5 items on the list that I have spent my money on.
Gillette Fusion Power - I mentioned switching to the Gillette Fusion Power back last year. Golbguru notes that the cartridges are a rip off at $18-$30 on Amazon. I found that Amazon can charge $3.50 a blade. However, I bought my razor blades on Ebay and paid around $1.66 a blade. I get about […]
-
Inflating Your Ebay Rating
I saw this interesting article on how easy it is to inflate your Ebay rating. The gist of the idea is that by selling an e-book for pennies on Ebay, you can get a lot of positive ratings, which are crucial on Ebay. Since it is possible to sell a nearly infinite number of e-books, the cost is a one time expenditure to create the content of the e-book. The result is a small investment that can lead to a big reputation.
This shows a glaring loophole in Ebay’s grading System. Ebay’s ratings should reflect the amount of the […]
