Long Road To Wealth

Doesn’t “Free Vacation For Life” sound pretty good? OK, so maybe not free vacation to an all inclusive resort, but a week long trip to a nice beach with all food, beverages, and gas paid for is freakin’ awesome. How do we do it, you ask?

How It Started

Well it started when we were about 16 and 17 (my wife and I, that is). We knew that we were going to get married, and we knew we were going to be young when we did it, but we wanted to take an awesome Honeymoon. So we started saving change. I saved the silver change in one 5 gallon water jug and she saved the pennies in another.

Also, I began to ask for $1 in quarters with every purchase I made (where did you think Wachovia got the idea)? Over the next 3 years until our wedding, we saved almost $4000 in silver change alone and had one hell of a week at an all inclusive resort in Mexico. I don’t know how much there was in pennies because I hate them.

Free Vacation for Life

So, save your change and add one dollar with every purchase, and you’ll have close to $1200 per year. That’s plenty for a nice vacation. I guess the word “free” is not quite true, but at least it feels free because it’s not coming out of your bank accounts.

Although, if you put the money into a High-Yield Savings Account, you could make $42 a year at HSBC’s current rate of 3.5%.

This is the Second topic in my Survival Series, where I will be discussing tips and tricks to stick to your budget while still living your life. It’s easy to end up spending $40 on dinner, and an extra $40 bucks at the grocery store, but I want to help you enjoy your life while paying off debt, building wealth, and creating the life you want most (not just the one you want now).

There are a lot of people (guys) out there that equate being romantic with spending money, just like they equate dressing nicely, eating good, and looking good with spending money. The fact of the matter is that these two don’t necessarily lead to the other.

You can, of course, have a very romantic date that costs $500. On the other hand, you can have one that cost a small fraction of that and still keeps you within your budget. Following are a few things that I have found make my dollar go a long way in terms of “romance per dollar.” (RPD)

Costco Flowers

• It is super expensive to buy a nice bouquet now a days…especially if you go to a Publix, Kroger, or (God Forbid) a florist! There’s a better way, and it’s not glamorous. Costco has some of the best looking flowers for super cheap. I think there is are Costco’s in most major cities, but if not, you can find the same good deals at Sam’s Club, BJ’s, or any of the members only buying clubs.

The “Just Because” Card

• What I have found with my wife is that she love love LOVE’s it when I think about her when I’m out running errands or coming back from a meeting or business trip. Every so often, I’ll stop and pick up a “just because” card from the store on my way home. It costs about a buck and has a HUGE RPD. In the card, I ask her to go on a date with me, either tonight or some time in the future.

The Cheap Date

• Picking up the “just because” card allows any date you come up with to be romantic. If you have been Working With Your Spouse Financially, it’s very easy to plan a cheap date because she (or he) will be on the same page. Then, going to the dollar theater is a great start because it only cost $4 and you both feel good about the savings. That, in itself, brings you closer together. From there, we might hit Costco again for a cheap dinner, or do our best at Surviving Dining Out.

Total Cost

• If you were to buy everything i just mentioned, with flowers at $10, a card at $1, a movie at $4, and dinner at $10 tops, you’ve got yourself one seriously romantic date at only $25!

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So, if you’re anything like me, you’ve got 4 credit cards you’re paying off, two checking accounts (mine and my wife’s) to check, a savings account with HSBC, and a mortgage. It takes 10 minutes to go to each page and input your username and password (and they’re all different because some have to start with a number and have both numbers and letters, others are numbers only, and others are letters only! Now There’s a Better Way!

Mint.com

Mint is the freshest, most intelligent way for you to manage your money online. Not only is Mint free, it saves you money. While existing personal finance software packages require hours to set up, a passion for accounting (is that possible?) and hours of weekly maintenance, Mint is virtually effortless.

With Mint, you can be fully up and running in less than five minutes. After that, revolutionary, patent–pending Mint technology does the rest, with virtually no more work required. It automatically pulls together your bank, credit union and credit card data, and provides up–to–date and amazingly accurate views of your financial—life from the big picture to specific details, in a friendly and intuitive way.

In addition, Mint goes beyond visibility and analysis providing personalized money–saving and money–making suggestions. Mint provides users an average of $1,000 in savings opportunities during their first session. Plus, Mint is proactive—alerting you when you are overbudget, have a low balance, need to pay a bill, and more.

Mint is safe and secure: we never know your identity and we provide bank–level data security.

How Mint works

Mint is a modern, powerful, easy and secure Web–based solution for managing your finances. And it’s free. You register anonymously using any valid email address, and then add the log–in information for the online bank, credit union, credit card and investment accounts you want to consolidate in Mint.

Mint connects to more than 5,000 US financial institutions. Your account information is updated daily. Mint automatically categorizes all your purchases, showing you how much you spend on gas, groceries, parking, rent, restaurants, DVD rentals and more, with amazing precision. An advanced alerting system highlights any unusual activity, low balances, unwanted fees and charges, and upcoming bills so you’re in constant contact with your money—effortlessly.

Mint goes way beyond just reporting. Using a patent-pending search algorithm, Mint constantly searches through thousands of offers from hundreds of providers to find the best deals on everything from bank accounts to credit cards; cable, phone and Internet plans; and more. Mint’s suggestions are “unique to you” based on your individual spending patterns. For example, if you have $20,000 in a bank account that’s earning no interest, Mint might recommend a high interest rate savings account from ING or HSBC. Acting on that suggestion would give you an extra $900 in interest income over a year.

Key Benefits

Mint is an entirely new approach to personal financial management. You don’t work for Mint, it works for you. We think you’ll love Mint because it’s:

• Easy to use: You’re up and running in less than five minutes. And Mint does virtually all the rest.
• Comprehensive: Mint provides detailed visibility into virtually all your financial relationships with a single, secure login.
• Visual and Analytical: Mint gives you powerful insights into your finances making–it easier to make good financial decisions.
• Constantly working to find you savings: Mint typically finds users $1,000 in savings opportunities in their first session—minutes after registering. And Mint keeps looking for new ways for you to save every day—continuously comparing your needs to product, service and bank offerings most relevant to you.
• Secure: Mint provides bank–level data security and industry–leading identity protection. Its security and privacy have been validated by VeriSign and TRUSTe.
• Always On: You’re automatically notified of upcoming bills, low balances, and any unusual activity in any of your accounts through one (m)interface.
• Anywhere/anytime access: You can get to Mint anywhere, anytime over the Web.
• And it’s Free!

In my humble opinion, It’s the best thing since sliced bread.

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My wife and I have just moved into our first home and there is no way anyone can budget enough for that kind of thing. There is a fee for EVERYTHING. If you’re not careful, you’ll pay hundreds of dollars more than you have to when you move to a new apartment or house.

It started with my Grandmother when I was a kid. I remember going to Toys ‘R’ Us with her and when we got to the checkout counter, she would say, “can you take 20% off for me?” Wouldn’t you know it!! They would!! Not every time, and not always that much. But she always got some kind of deal. All You Have to Do is ASK.

My Savings

1. Moving Truck - I got a U-Haul because I had some stuff at that storage space to pick up anyway. I got the one-way price of $130 which includes up to 59 miles. I knew I was going to drive more than that, so when I made the reservation, I said, “Is there any way we can make that up to 99 miles?” She said we could and I Saved $40.

2. Trash - I called Robertson Sanitation to get my trash service started and the nice lady let me know that there will be a $39 activation fee as well as a $10 dollar fee for the big trashcan. I said, “Are those fees waivable?” And, “yes sir,” was the response, so I Saved $49.

3. Gas, Water, Electric - Where I live, all three of these utilities are serviced by a different company, and I only have one option for each. All three had service connection fees of $40, $20, and $99, respectively. On each occasion, I asked for the fee to be waived, and it was so I Saved $159.

4. TV - I switched service from Comcast to Direct TV because I already had all my other services from AT&T so I figured I might be able to save more that way. Turns out, Direct TV is about $30 less per month than Comcast for equivalent service. When starting service there is a $49 service fee and a $99 installation fee. I got both waived an Saved $148.

5. Home Phone - Normally I would say you’re an idiot to have home phone service, but I work from home so it is my business line. There is a “bonus room” in my house that I turned into my office, but it had no phone jacks. I called AT&T and they let me know that it would be $89 to install a new jack. After asking to waive the fee, I Saved $89.

Totals

Moving Truck - $40

Trash - $49

Utilities - $159

TV - $148

Home Phone - $89

Total Savings - $485

No Reason Not To

I have had a lot of people tell me that it’s weird to ask for discounts or for fees to be waived, because that is just what it costs for something, but I know better. I used to be a bit embarrassed to stand in line with my grandmother because I new she was going to do something like that. Now, I would be embarrassed to pay full price for just about anything! You can always get a better deal. All You Have To Do Is Ask!

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1. Ordering Appetizer and Entre’ - I never finish them and they just make me fat and uncomfortably full.

2. Drinking Out - It’s fun to go out with friends, but so so not worth it right now. I can have some friends over and talk them into bringing the beer because its MY house.

3. Going To Movies - $10 a ticket! This is getting ridiculous! There’s no excuse for that when we have a dollar theater down the road.

4. Cable TV - But man I love me some American Idol! And I got a good deal from Direct TV.

5. Clothes - I tend to rip holes in just about ever piece of clothing I ever own. Done it ever since I was a kid…I don’t know what the heck happens.

6. Having Debt - Oh! But not for long! It’s been a good thing that I had the available credit when starting a business, but it starts to get to you before too long.

7. Bottled Water - I really really really like water. Always have, Always will. I just don’t like tap water. luckily, I just bought a really nice water purifier, so that expense should stop.

8. Starbucks - This would be the one and only way my wife blows the budget. She really is very good with money, but LOVES some coffee.

9. Text Messaging - Somehow I get to the end of the month and I’m like “WHAT? How did I send 1200 text messages??”

10. Gas - My wife has a bit of a Gas Guzzler, and her car is better than mine so we always take it places. Plus, it has about 80K less miles on it.

11. The Expensive Dog Food - Turns out, unless your pup is in a dog show, the difference will be unnoticeable and expensive.

11. The Expensive Shampoo - Same reason…you’re not going to enter a dog show, are you?

13. Buying Books - the library is always free! and if you can’t find it there, there’s always BooksPrice.com.

14. Ordering Coke or Beer at Restaurants - A Coke is like $2.50 now! Beers are worse, but I have this place called

15. The Carwash - I would wash my car at home, but I live in Georgia and there’s practically NO water. So it’s illegal to wash my car and my only options are to have a dirty dirty car or to go pay to have washed somewhere that recycles and reuses their water.

16. “Wasting Time” Shopping - Or shopping for fun. This used to be a favorite pastime for my wife and I. We would go to the mall or Target or PetSmart and blow cash.

17. Starbucks - I don’t drink coffee and for some reason, the idea of $4 for a little cup is ridiculous to me.

18. Overdraft Fees - Oh Boy! One time, a check cleared about 2 days before it normally does, and I used me debit card 10 TIMES! That’s $350 in overdraft fees.

19. Amazon.com - This is the same as shopping for fun for me. I like to know what new books and gadget are out there. I’ll see something cool and add it to my cart just to see how much it would all cost…then I talk myself into buying it all.

20. Cigars - I ran a cigar shop for about a year and I really do love to sit on my back porch with a cigar and a beer to wind down or hang out with buddies. Nothing beats it, and really not ALL THAT expensive for hours of enjoyment and socializing.

What is your ONE BIG expense that seems to get you all the time? What is your Budget Buster?

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