I spend about $.10 per mile to commute

Squawkfox posted a handy tool the other day, the Gas-Mileage Calculator, which will show you just what gas prices are costing you.

I drive about 15 miles each way to work (give or take) and spend roughly $.10 each mile. In other words, I spend $3 a day (not counting tolls, which add another $1.60 each way) to commute to work.

On top of which, there’s the time factor: I spend 30 minutes there and 45 back. (TRAFFIC!!! AHH!)

Still better than public transportation for me, if only for convenience: I can leave as soon as work is done and get there just as it begins.

What about you?

New Reason to Use Mint

I got an e-mail today that Mint’s beta version of investment tracking is available!

Previously, I could see my balance in my portfolios, but I couldn’t track the individual stocks without logging into my Scottrade accounts. Now, Mint does it for me, complete with color-coded charts, etc. (Note to self: the experts are right, over time, my portfolio has gone up, up, up.)

Yet another reason to use Mint!

Cool Site: Credit Card Research

I’ve been thinking for a few months now about getting a credit card, but the one thing stopping me is that I don’t know which to go with! It’s not like I have to get one or like I’m in a big rush, so I can do this when I feel like. As I think about it, though, I’m really glad to have found this site, CreditCardsClub.com, which is all about credit card rating and which is a great online resource that breaks down all the features of each card for you.

So which should I choose?

Here’s what I have now:

*A Visa debit/credit card with my bank account. This is totally old school, I know. I always use it as credit (my bank charges after a certain number of debits?!), but I never worry about overspending with my limits because my bank account balance dictates them.

*A Gap credit card. I use this once every few months, probably, and I always pay off the balance in full. I’ve had it for maybe six years, give or take, and I like the free $10 coupons I can earn.

*A shared Chase Mastercard. I went to Europe as a senior in high school and needed a way to access money without the hassle of travelers’ checks or the liability of cash. My parents put me on their credit card account. To be transparent, they’d still be perfectly fine with me using it whenever I wanted to, but I don’t. I have it in my wallet for emergencies and emergencies only, or maybe when they need me to get them something and they’re paying. Can’t remember the last time I used it.

What I want from a new card:

*The best rewards possible.

I’ll never carry a balance, so the APR is irrelevant. As far as rewards: I travel, but not enough to make me want an airline/hotel rewards card. I shop, but not at one store primarily. Of course, I buy gas, but with an economical car, not enough to make me want a gas card.

Maybe a cash-back card? I went to Credit Cards Club and clicked the cash-back rewards tab on top.

Here are the ones I found most interesting:

Capital One No Hassle Cash(SM) Rewards: There’s a $29 fee, but I’d earn a 25% bonus for all income (?!), which would more than make up for it, obviously. Not sure how I feel about a card with a fee, though. Something seems weird.

Chase Freedom SM Credit Card: No fee. 3% cash back on my top three spending categories (not sure what categories means) and 1% on everything else.

Discover® Open Road(SM) Card: No fee. 5% Cash-back Bonus® on gas and auto maintenance purchases, 5% to 20% Cash-back Bonus at top online retailers* and up to 1% Cash-back Bonus on all other purchases.

So I’m undecided. Anyone have input?

Have You Heard about the Lifelock Lawsuit?

I’ve been borrowing a car with satellite radio for the past few days, while we wait for my VW to act up again. The good news about this is that I can listen to my choice of radio stations (and now covet a satellite radio, but that’s another story).

Almost daily, whether it’s when I’m listening to the news in the morning or Dave Ramsey on the way home, I hear an advertisement for Lifelock. The CEO/President gives his social security number over the air, challenging anyone to steal his identity; with Lifelock, it’s not possible, he says. Are you familiar with them? Essentially, you pay them $10/month to protect you from identity theft.

Well, turns out Experian, a well-known credit-reporting agency, is suing Lifelock for this service. Experian claims Lifelock exaggerates its services and doesn’t offer what it claims to. In response, Lifelock says Experian is mad that Lifelock is threatening its ability to use consumer data without consent.

Sounds to me like Lifelock is right. Credit Reporting Agencies are notorious for giving out our info, bringing us pre-approved junk mail, etc. But Lifelock members are opted out of these, meaning less consumer info to sell.

If anyone has had experience with Lifelock, whether as a user or as a friend of one, I’d love to hear your opinion of the service.

Ammendum to 2008 Goals: Alternative Income

Thanks to PF Buzz, I came across an excellent article at www.bripblap.com: How to Make Money without a Job and Why You Should.

He starts off with “Spend less than you earn is the wrong way to think! Your time will be much better spent thinking of more ways to make money than it will be thinking of ways to save money.”

A clip: “Some people may have a trickle of investment income, or occasionally sell something on eBay and then give up after a few sales, but a large number of people consider catching up on the final season of NBC’s beloved quirky comedy “The Office” a better use of their time than trying to earn more money after a tiring day in the office. Their goal is to get by on minimum work, minimum income and maximum “down-time.” Alternative income seems like a lot of extra work to these people, and extra work isn’t what anyone wants.”

It just gets more inspiring from there. Go check it out!

Ever since I read it, I’ve been thinking about his points, mulling around ideas for additional income.

Here’s what I already have:
1. Job #2, part-time for the family company: doesn’t bring in money but covers living expenses.

ONLINE
2. eBay: very, very randomly, I sell things on eBay.
3. Blogging: bits of advertising money here and there.
4. MyPoints: I read random e-mails and earn gift cards. Want a referral? E-mail me!

INTEREST-BEARING/STOCKS
5. Savings account earnings, 3%
6. Stock portfolio earnings, variable

7. Credit card bonus points, gift cards usually every two months

Here are things I could do:
1. Freelance writing/editing
I find it overwhelming, at this moment, to think of writing/editing more than I already do. But if I could find convenient opportunities, ones that would work with my schedule, even once in a while, it might be worth it.

2. More aggressive eBaying/Craigslisting
I hate what this says about the amount of sheer stuff I have/waste, but I could probably bring in some steady $ just by selling the excess.

3. More aggressive, strategically chosen blog advertising
The links I had through PepperJamNetwork were getting me nowhere. Has anyone had success with them? I posted both banner and text links for more than a month and earned nothing, so I took them down. I wonder what other opportunities are out there, and how difficult they’d be to apply.

I signed up with PayPerPost!

Inspired by Krystal, I have signed up with payperpost, a company that links bloggers with sponsors. From what I understand, there are offers based on Google PR and RealRank, and I can accept published, applicable opportunities. Then I write a post and get paid, via PayPal.

So I’m going to try it, just once in a while, and see what I, and you, readers, think. (Let me know if it’s annoying/interesting/something else.) I don’t want this site to become boring or uninteresting, and I don’t want it to seem overridden with advertising. I’m only going to try this.

When I originally started my blog, I never dreamed I’d use it for money-making purposes, both because I didn’t want to and because I didn’t think sponsors would be interested. Now that I have my own domain and have been blogging for more than a year, I think this is worth testing.

Also, it aligns with my financial goals, which I really should post about sometime soon:

1. It will bring in (small) additional income.
2. It will supplement my savings since I’ve decided, for now, that any PPP money will go directly to one form of savings or another.

Since this is, after all, a personal-finance blog, I feel I kind of have to say yes to an opportunity that does those two things.

For the Records

This past week, my new Blackberry and I have gotten to know each other. We’re already very close. I find myself adding new information (task: get hair cut!, appointment: interview 1 PM Friday; new phone # for friend X) all the time. I’m trying very hard to stay strong and not get the unnecessary data plan ($30/month). But I want one.

Still haven’t bought any clothes since early February. This is big for me. I’m testing myself to see if I can actually wear every item of clothing I own before buying anything new. So far so good, though I do feel the itch to shop. Seriously.

Target took back the shelves with no problem. Ah, Target. Now for the walls.

Work’s going fine. We’re busy, I love my coworkers, spring has given us daylight to drive home in. But I’m still thinking, wondering about what I want to do in the future.

My tax refund came last week, auto-deposited into my account. I sent it all to the ER fund.

And those are my latest updates. Sometimes I feel these boring little bits of info aren’t worth posting, but I figure: it’ll be nice to have this to look back on.

Maxed Out

You will not be wasting time when you watch this video. Put it on while you do other things. It’s very well-done: heart-wrenchingly powerful.

It left me wishing I could do something to help.

Go HERE to see it for yourself.

My Quicken Free Trial

I’ve been using Budget by Snowmint since last summer, and I like it. It lets me make pretty little envelopes and set my budget ahead of time, yadda yadda.

Every now and then, though, I get a hankering to try something new. Enter: Quicken Online.

Since the end of February, I’ve been experiencing the free trial of Quicken and here’s what I think so far:

PROS:

1. It pulls all my bank account/ING/credit card info into one neat place.

2. I can label categories of spending.

3. It creates sweet pie charts that show what percentage of my money goes where.

CONS:

1. I don’t set my budget ahead of time within the software (I use a separate Excel spreadsheet).

2. It costs $2.99/month, which isn’t much but which could add up over time.

I’m still on the fence. Can anyone talk me out of this by persuading me to a better program? I’m all ears!

Do you know your credit score?

When I applied for the apartment, the management company ran a credit check on me. The agent let me know I had a good score (760), which was kind of nice to find out. I always, always pay everything on time and always have, but I don’t really have a lot of credit. I can’t remember the last time I checked… I suspect it was a year or so ago on that Equifax site online.

Everyone can have a free credit report each year. Do you know your score?