Just the other day, I received my card statement with the yearly annual subscription. Although the amount they charge is not that big, around $20, money is still money especially in this economy. (That’s also why I never bothered with a gold card, higher fees just to impress someone? No thanks)

So I picked up the phone to call the customer service to have that waived. It seems like a lot of hassle having to do that every year. In the past, it is quite easy to just hint that I’ll, “cancel the card” to have the annual fee waived but banks are also hungry for cash flow these days, and they know the “cancel the card” trick.

It got me looking for alternatives since in my country, there are some credit cards that do not charge an annual fee provided I make 2 or 3 purchases with the card each month. This is quite easy for me since I pay all the utilities and fuel using the credit. It got me on the hunt. It seems the credit sales person have all gone missing. Where are they when you need them?

Anyway, if you are looking to get the most out of credit card companies like I did, you might be able to find one here at credit card deals. I’ve been a strong advocate for being “smart” when using your credit cards. If you are having trouble controlling your spending, I suggest you think twice before getting another one.

Since this site is about money, we will look at the cost of maintaining them. I surfed over to SPCA site to take a look at the cost of maintaining different types of pets and the associated cost. While I think cost can vary depending on what you feed your pets, especially dogs or cats which can eat a variety of food, the SPCA gives a ball park figure what to expect if you intend to keep pets.

The annual cost is around for:-

• medium size female dog $1,000 a year
• cat – $900
• rabbit – $500
• guinea pig – $500
• hamster – $240

The above cost does not include cost in case your pet gets sick or injure or other cost that might throw your budget  way off. I know since we had pets that got sick, got hit by a car and other interesting happenings, when you have pets.

What does all this mean? Pets are expensive. If you want to keep them, make sure you have the necessary funds to maintain them. If you are in the midst of reducing debt, then pets might not make economic sense.

Pondering it over a few days, I felt I should write this article. I felt, deciding what you really want, is an important skill everyone should develop. If not, I think we don’t enjoy and value what we own.

Let me illustrate my point. If you are reading this article and it is the first article you read on this site, you probably don’t know that I’m pretty darn frugal and something bordering in stingy, according to some. So when I buy stuff, I really make sure I enjoy it and get the most mileage out of it. I rarely buy stuff I don’t really want, and seldom make mistakes on my purchases. You see, I research the heck out of things I want to buy especially bigger ticket items.

One purchase fell into the category of “should not have bought it” is my present PDA. If you read this post, my previous PDA decided to die on me after several years of use. I bought a new PDA last year and I would say, I’m not particularly happy about it from the beginning. You see, I’ve always been a fan of Palm OS PDA’s. Both my first and second were Palm OS based PDA’s. Although they are not perfect, they are close. My third and present PDA I own, is Win Mobile based. This should give you a hint why I’m not happy.

This was what happened when I when shopping for a PDA last year. In deciding which PDA to buy last year, it was a toss between sticking with what I knew worked well vs trying something new. Using the old and proven would cost me less money and a slightly older tech. Who cares as long as they work.

The main reason for me to switch camps was I’ll be getting two PDAs. One for me and one for my other half. My other half preferred the Win based iPaq since it is smaller, lighter and newer compared to the Tungsten. It had newer hardware but cost more. The sales guy at the booth swayed the decision a little by saying Palm is going the dinosaur way, which it was at that time. Palm did not release new gadgets fast enough. (Read this Palm. You have die hard fans you are losing because you did not keep up to date with what customers want.) On the forums online, already they were 2 camps. Win CE is making real inroads to Palm OS and many did switched camps. It did not make choosing the PDA any easier for me.

The decision to go over to Win CE was made because I did not relish the idea of being tech support for 2 PDAs with two different OS. So I went against my instinct and gave the iPaq a try. First time I switched it on, I had my doubts. Several days later, I found myself already less productive. It is still so 1 year on.

The pro’s of Win CE is it connects better to the desktop, but only just. But I had to use Outlook, which can’t do a decent job compared to ACT, the contact management system I was using for several years. After doing all the sorts of database transfer and learning to work with the PDA, I finally got it my date sorted out and running satisfactorily.

Today, a year down the road, I’m still not quite happy with the PDA and should have bought the Tungsten. It would have cost me less money, worked faster and be more productive.

I didn’t really wanted the iPaq since I thought the cheaper, slightly older Tungsten would do a better job. Over the one year, I have to say, I don’t enjoy using it. I hate waiting for programs to load. I hate how it sync. I hate how it eats up power. In short, I hate the iPaq and Win CE.

This is totally different compared to my last 2 PDAs which I thoroughly enjoyed using. I enjoyed showing it to others, I enjoyed telling others what a great tool it is, things I can do with it. How it generally made my life better. In fact, I felt a tinge of sadness when they gave up the ghost. This won’t happen with the iPaq when its time is up.

Which brings me back to the start of this article, “Deciding what you really want.” I believe that the stuff you want, should improve your life be it making it easier or faster or to get something done or both. If not, then stuff you buy should at least bring enjoyment to you or to others. If it does not, then why bother in the first place.

P.S. After several months of use, my other half is not using the PDA I bought her. She decided she doesn’t really need one. Now we have 2 of the same stuff I hate

P.P.S I hate wasting money more than I hate the iPaq, so I’m still using it

It got me thinking a bit since used tires cost only a quarter of what a brand new tire costs. After a bit of number crunching and a bit of research online, I decided against using used tires. The reason is I’d rather not face the prospect of a tire blowout at highway speeds. Even though I’m a rather gentle driver, there are times I’m in a hurry. And used tires could have their carcass damaged without you knowing it until it is too late.

According to Michelin, approximately 535 fatalities and 23,000 collisions per year due to a tire blowout. Tires are so well constructed today that very few blowout occur. But a tire that is under inflated, over inflated, over loaded or impact damage of hitting in a pothole or a curb.

The cost of 4 new tires is about US$ 240. A set of tires assuming you take care of them will last easily 60,000 to 70,000 km. So saving US$ 180 for something that will last 3-4 years doesn’t warrant the risk attached to it. That’s my 2 cents.

What do you think? Do you use, used tires to save money?

But then, I remembered that I used their promotions codes before. This are codes or online coupons if you like, that gives you a discount when you used them. So far, besides using for my domain registrar, I’ve used it for my hosting company, Hostgator as well.

The discount for my domain is not a lot, but instead of paying $10, I paid a little over $7. Multiply that by several domains that I need to renew each year, it is enough for to pay for a good snack somewhere. If you think I’ve got a whole list of domains, no, I don’t. To get the codes, try to Google for “godaddy code” or any other registrar that you use.

Since we on the subject, Hostgator have reduced their hosting fees a few months back. When I first signed up, they were charging some $9.95 per month for a baby Croc package that allows multiple domains. I used the promo code that gave $9.94 off the first month’s hosting fee. Just google for “hostgator code”. There is also a St. Patrick day’s promo till 1st April 08.

I know it is not everyday you move host or renew your domains, but a dollar saved is a dollar earned. So the next time you are about to click the check out button, go do yourself a favor, look around for promo codes. It can save you some money.

Care to share what other places you have used promo codes to save money?

Back to eyeglasses. Like myself, Merlin Mann also wears prescription eyeglasses. If you are a short sighted person, you’ll know that they are expensive. In case you think prices ranging from $300 or more is the norm, a short confession from a retired optician says the real cost a they inccur to sell a pair to you.

As a retired Minneapolis optician I can tell you first hand that we bought our lenses in bulk and most single vision lenses cost less than $2.00 a pair, Bifocals and progressives cost us as much as $6.00 a pair. Frames ..Name brand, up to $10.00, same quality generics cost us much less. Online is the way I buy all of my eyewear, new glasses in under two weeks.

Looks like us, the eyeglasses fellas have been taken for a ride for a long time. But no longer. There are online options now! Prices range from as low as $26, writes Merlin. If you are trying to save a ton of cash on your next pair of eyeglasses, head on over here and get the full story how to get cheaper eyeglasses. Now if only I can get my eyeglasses online where I stay, I could have several pairs at least a spare pair just it case the first one is damaged.

Check out GlassyEye to find out where you can locate online stores for cheaper eyeglasses

Have you ever looked with a tinge of envy, when your neighbor drive up to his driveway in a new BMW or some other expensive car? This neighbor seem to have it made. Nice car, nice clothes, nice wife and just about everything makes you believe that they have made it. Then you begin to imagine and wonder, if you could afford a nicer car than the one you are driving now. I know, I have on occasion. But don’t let this image fool you. Yes, there are those who are really rich and make a show of their wealth.

Let me tell you a true story of two fellows. I’ll call them Mike and Bob. By the way, these are not their real names. Mike and Bob have financial habits that are miles apart. Mike is the guy you think is rich on first glance. Looking at the clothes he wears, the car he drives and the places he frequents, screams “rich”.

On the other hand, Bob is a simple guy. He dresses simply, eat and lives simply. On the first look, you’d never give him a second glance because everything about Bob says “middle class”. After knowing them a little longer, wealth wise, Mike and Bob are totally opposite.

While Mike flaunts his so called wealth, Mike have debts up to his eye balls. At anytime, his image can just crumble. Bob on the other hand, could survive just about any financial disaster since Bob don’t have any debts to speak off. Meeting Bob the first time, I’d guess he was low profile and have a bit of cash.

Did Mike or Bob get to where they are financially overnight? Surely not. While Mike has been accumulating debt, Bob has been accumulating assets. Mike choose to live a lifestyle to please friends and perhaps his ego, and Bob choose a simple life, to not have too much “stuff” and spends his money on things that grows in value like land and property.

Next time you see a person in a nice car, don’t look on with envy. You can never tell if that person is a millionaire or a pauper?

Before I finally decided on my laptop, I did some research on cost vs performance. Several weeks ago, I wrote about how much are our gadgets costing us. Although I use my laptop extensively for work i.e. generate income, my previous laptop cost me $ 2,200 a little over five years ago. Being a first time laptop purchaser then, I wanted the laptop to last as long as possible. So I got one that’s design for business. Better built etc. Over the last few years, price of laptops have gotten cheaper and I notice that the quality of many brand name consumer laptops have improved a lot in terms of sturdiness. Even most Dell computers are not really built for heavy duty work except for a certain range.

So I did a bit more research and finally settled for a home user type Core 2 middle range processor that cost me $1,140. Instead of buying the higher price, higher range and squeezing the life out of the laptop later on, I decided to get a this laptop with the intention of it lasting 3 years. Cost per year of use for my first laptop is $ 440 and cost per year for this laptop will be $380. In order to squeeze the life out from the first unit, I had to upgrade the hard disk which was failing on the 4th year, so actually the cost per year of use is much higher than $440.

So far I’m happy with the new unit except the way the OS which truly is bloat ware.

Here are some ways you can save money without changing your lifestyle too drastically. I got here when looking for how much toilet paper a person uses in his or her lifetime. Why would I be doing that? I remembered sometime ago a study was conducted and it mentions that people flush a few thousand dollars worth of toilet paper over their lifetime.

I look hard but all I got was the average number of “squares” a person used per day. But I found something else to help you conserve your hard cash. What you can save money on, and what not to bother with.

I got the facts & figures here

During the winter, you can save as much as 3% of the energy your furnace uses simply by lowering your thermostat one degree F (if it’s set between 65 F and 72 F). Cool!

Dust on a light bulb or dirt on a glass fixture can reduce the light it gives off by 10 percent and make it seem that you need a brighter, higher wattage bulb. Go dust your light bulbs ASAP.

A white wall reflects 80 percent of the light that hits it; a black one reflects just 10 percent. The more light the walls reflect, the greater the chance that the light can be ‘recycled’ by striking the wall, bouncing off, and still illuminating the room. ~ remember this the next time you paint your home

About 15% of the energy you use for heating your home goes to warming up air that leaks in through the cracks. You can save 10% or more of your heating or cooling costs by insulating and tightening up ducts ~ time to get the tools out.
Turn off the water faucet when brushing your teeth. This simple act can save 9 gallons of water every time you brush. Multiply that by 2 times a day your brush your teeth times 365 days times 5 person a household, which gives you 32,850 gallons. Average water cost in the US $.002 per gallon that give 65.70 a year ~ not much so don’t argue with your spouse over this, but then you are doing the environment some good.

The normal faucet flow is 3-5 gallons of water per minute (gpm). By attaching a low flow faucet aerator, you can reduce the flow by 50%. Incredibly, although the flow is reduced, it will seem stringer because air is mixed into the water as it leaves the tap ~ depends on how much you use here. It could be time to get more tools out or just relax and look for something else to put your efforts on.

Between 15 and 30 percent of the energy your water heater uses goes to keeping a tank of water hot, just in case you need it ~ instant water heater anyone?

By the way, I gave up looking for how much toilet paper a person use in their lifetime because if you don’t use toilet paper, what is the alternative? Old newspaper? I think not.

I received this story in my mail box this morning. I think it illustrates a very important point about how we live our lives. Story goes like this.

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned to complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: “If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups… And then you began eyeing each other’s cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.”

God brews the coffee, not the cups………. Enjoy your coffee!

“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.”

This is food for much thought. It’s important for us not to sell ourselves short for not aiming for the best things in life. However, at times, we aim for the wrong the best things.