I buy maybe three video games a year, which is as often as they make games good enough to buy. I find it impossible to pay $60 for a new game, partially because as a child of the original Nintendo, I got accustomed to $40 games, so I always wait at least a couple weeks to get a used copy. And I did the same thing with Assassin’s Creed II, which was worth every penny.

But I’m not going to tell you how awesome this game is, since you’d either like it or you wouldn’t. No, the interesting part is how I almost wasted a bunch of money on it.

I got my used copy for about $45 and spent a couple of weeks playing it on and off until I finished the story. I don’t care much about unlocking achievements or finding every treasure, I just care about being good enough to finish the story. Eventually I was, and I brought the game back and traded it in for a used copy of Batman: Arkham Asylum (which is also very good). I was satisfied, and excited about future sequels.

A little while after that, I saw on the Xbox dashboard that there was new DLC (downloadable content) available for Assassin’s Creed II. A whole new piece of the story was ready to be unlocked for 320 points, or if you want to talk like a normal human American, four dollars. I found myself in a brand new position: I had finished the story, and yet I had not. The satisfaction of finishing the game had been yanked away from me, which would normally have angered me, except that the game is so good that mostly I was annoyed I had sold the game back.

So I did what seemed natural: I complained about it on Facebook. I had given up, and had no intention of buying the game again, that would be absurd. I was just planning on feeling sorry for myself, or at least waiting until I felt like I had the free cash to throw around.

Fortuitously, I have a co-worker that follows me on Facebook, and whose son likes to get in considerable trouble (imagine police officers, broken arms and many fights). She punished him by taking away some of his video games, and lent one to me, the one I needed to continue the story… which I did, and then the next day, there was yet another DLC pack available for the same game. Naturally, I immediately paid another four human American dollars and played through that in a few hours.

So, lesson learned: do some research on whether the game developers are planning any DLC before selling the game back. Unlike the $40 price tag, I’m still not used to the idea that games get add-ons over time, but I’m thrilled that they do. I’m also really lucky that my friend’s son gets in trouble, but hopefully he and I can both learn to make smarter choices.

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Beware the Downloadable Content (DLC)

I wrote last November about a rollout in my city to upgrade everybody’s power meters to the “smart” kind which should allow the power companies to operate and communicate remotely with our electricity. They should also enable us consumers to have more data about which devices in the house waste the most energy.

It appears that in the first month after some people got upgraded, their electric bills went up much higher than normal, in some cases twice as much as the previous month. I heard reports on the radio of electric bills up to $500 or $1,000.

Oncor, the company who is foisting the new meters on us, has offered a few different explanations and initially denied that there was anything faulty with the meters:

• people are using more electricity due to record cold temperatures
• the old meters were actually running too slowly, and the new meters are more accurate
• 75% of the people complaining about higher bills don’t even have the new meters yet
• Oncor has tested thousands of meters and hasn’t found a fault in any of them
• sometimes when the installer reads the old meter, he/she makes a mistake

Yesterday the Texas Public Utility Commission agreed to hire a third-party tester to see if they can find any problems. The hilarious-but-not-really part about that is:

Eventually, the commission might hike electric delivery rates for all consumers to pay for the program.

So, we’re paying $2.12 per month for eleven years for the new meters, we’re paying higher rates, and we might be paying to find out if the higher rates are fake or not.

Proper customer service rules dictate that if your customers are surprised with bills at a rate twice as high or more, you refund the money and immediately investigate the obvious problem, at your own expense. Other cities with smart meters have seen similar complaints, and I’m anxious to see how this turns out. I don’t have a smart meter yet, though I am helping to foot the bill at $2.12 a month. At the very least, in a truly free market, people would be able to pick a meter style, or pick an energy company that offered a different choice. But for the time being, we’re stuck.

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Dallas’s Smart Power Meter Problem

When Consumer Reports tests new cars, their staff shop just like consumers. They stop into dealerships and buy cars without giving any indication they intend to test the cars for a major magazine. Rather than receiving specially tuned or improved vehicles, the magazine takes to its test center the same cars ordinary shoppers would buy.

Testing involves both subjective and objective evaluations. Consumer Reports offers a number of short videos explaining their testing methods. featuring their 327-acre facilities. Here’s their explanation of how they test acceleration:

For the first time in six years, two American brands appear on the list of best cars of 2010. The typical criticism of Consumer Reports is that the subscribers overall tend to be more liberal than the “average American,” and this results in a favoring of cars built by foreign-owned companies. For the reliability portion of the ratings of new cars, Consumer Reports relies on subscriber-submitted reports of problems.

It seems to me that if subscribers are in fact more liberal, and there is some kind of correlation between liberalism and ownership of foreign brand cars, there are more opportunities for subscribers to report problems with the cars they own. This should lead to an overstatement of the occurrence of problems in foreign brands and an understatement of problems in domestic brands.

If there is a flaw in my logic, I’m sure someone will point it out.

Here are Consumer Reports’ picks for the best cars of 2010:

Do you own or plan to own any of these 2010 models? Let us know if you’re happy with your purchase.

Top Picks, Consumer Reports, April 2010
Additional photo: Dr. Keats

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Consumer Reports’ Best Cars of 2010

This article is presented by Kelly Whalen, Consumerism Commentary staff writer.

It’s fairly straightforward to figure out the difference between a need and a want. Needs are basic: food, shelter, clothing, water, warmth. We can also add to that our emotional needs: love, friendship, and care.

Wants seem easy to define. Wants are all the extras, the things that are not necessities. No one “needs” the latest gadget, the most expensive pair of running shoes in the store, or the biggest house on the block.

When it comes to actual purchases though the waters seem to get murky. Is a new pair of shoes a necessity or a want? The answer to this question depends on many factors. You would probably want to know what kind of shoes are being considered, how many pairs of shoes the person already has, whether they’re replacing another pair of shoes, and the answers to a dozen more questions. This evaluation of needs versus wants takes time.

We may go through days without having to make spending decisions, but throughout our lives we make tens of thousands of these decisions. Whether they are small purchases like a pack of gum or large ones such as our homes, we are faced over and over again with the question, “Do I really need this?”

If you are asking that question, you are already practicing smart spending habits. “Do I really need that?,” is only the tip of the iceberg though. We can build on that question to make a checklist that will help keep more money in your pocket.

The situation where this often becomes useful is when you are shopping for something, perhaps groceries or a birthday gift, and you see a widget you have been thinking about buying. You look at the widget in passing or may even stop and pick up the widget off the shelf while you make a decision. Here are the questions you need to ask yourself before you put that widget in your shopping cart.

• Is this widget on my list? If it isn’t, put it down and write it on your list for future purchases. If you aren’t shopping with a list, start! Lists are a great way to keep track of all the things you need and want. If it’s on your list you can continue.
• Do I need this widget? No justifications here. Is it an absolute have-to-have-it item? If you said yes, buy it. If you said no, continue to the next question.
• Can I afford this widget? If you answered no, put the credit card back in your wallet and back slowly away. If you answered yes, continue to the next question.
• Do I want to spend my money on this widget? Are there better things you could be spending your money on? Is there a goal you have in mind? For me the idea of being debt-free is much more appealing than the widget I am considering. You may have a goal in mind such as a new home or a vacation with your family, so while the question might be easy to answer, it will depend on what your individual goals are.

Taking a few moments to evaluate our purchases while making them is crucial to maintaining a healthy balance of spending and saving. Using this checklist will only take a few seconds, but it could be the difference between a decent net worth and a fantastic one.

As a mom, I am faced with purchasing decisions not just for myself but for my family and household as well. Using this checklist has stopped me from overbuying, overspending, and buying things I don’t need.

How do you keep yourself in check when you are spending money? Do you use a checklist or evaluation process?

Photo: robholland

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Needs Versus Wants: The Great Spending Debate

My wife and I went on a mini-vacation this past weekend (our first using only cash), and while we didn’t specifically plan to limit spending on meals, we managed to do better than I had hoped.

Of course she knows about my serious push to do what I can to erase my credit card debt, but the more influential factor seems to have been the use of the Yelp app on her mobile phone. For example, we both appreciate good German food, so we were nearing New Braunfels, and she found a place with great reviews, so we pulled up directions on the same phone and easily found our way there.

We subscribe to the “eat like the locals” mentality encouraged by people like Anthony Bourdain. Even though in this case we weren’t traveling to a new country, or even a different state, different areas have different advantages. Here we found ourselves in a town settled largely by Germans, and their descendants still know how to make a schnitzel.

Friesenhaus wasn’t cheap, but we stopped in time for a late lunch for $67, and were so well fed that we didn’t even need dinner. The next morning, again with no forward planning, we found a place with “perhaps the best tacos in America,” and got stuffed (not in the British way) for $12.91.

It probably doesn’t hurt that we were on an odd schedule. We seemed to hit the taco place between morning rushes, strolled around the zoo for a while, and didn’t get hungry again until around 5:30 PM. Yelp came to the rescue once again and we got the mad scientists at Bunsen Burgers to solve that problem. (Seriously, it’s the nerdiest menu I’ve ever seen, which really called to my wife and me.)

On our way back home the next morning, Yelp’s success continued with a recommendation for Union Street Station, which boasted a classic Texan menu.

Over the weekend, we managed to avoid both chain restaurants and tourist traps, and still feel like we were on vacation. More impressively, over five meals’ worth of food, two people ate for an average of $12.45 per person.

I don’t mean to gush about Yelp; it’s certainly not the only app of its kind, but for this sort of thing I recommend going where the biggest user base is, and Yelp seems to be it. We had a delicious vacation eating with the locals, and I’m sure we’ll be doing more of the same in the future.

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Eat Like the Locals and Profit Twice

Charles Darwin is often misquoted when referring to the concept of “survival of the fittest”, but his writings specify adaptability as the trait that individuals should strive for if they want to survive (and reproduce). In order for our wallets to survive in the future, we’re going to have to learn to be more adaptable by far. Businesses can tag information, recognize patterns, analyze data, get up-to-the-minute reports and make decisions based on your behavior. As long as there’s a way to opt-out of this, I don’t personally have a problem with any of that, but I sympathize if you do.

It’d be even better if all of these techniques were necessarily opt-in. Unfortunately, I’ve come across a few instances where opting out isn’t a reasonable option. In fact, your only option seems to be to walk away.

Harrah’s Loyalty / Rewards Program

When you go to gamble at most of the casinos operated by Harrah’s, you get to sign up for a rewards card. You swipe the card at the table and points start to accrue. When you reach a certain threshold, you are eligible for free stuff. That’s not particularly special; casinos have always done this. But casino employees used to do this manually, using just their eyes.

Harrah’s has a powerful and massive computer analyzing customer behavior on-the-fly, and here’s how the trick works:

• You’re a regular customer, but not a big spender
• Harrah’s knows how much you’re usually willing to lose on a given trip to the casino, before you leave
• You gamble some, and you start to reach your limit
• A nice Harrah’s employee brings you a free drink
• You start making bad decisions and lose more money at the casino

This can work at any level. Depending on how much you usually spend, they’ll offer you a free dinner, a show, a room, etc. But now, the casino doesn’t have to spend any time watching you, deciding what to offer you, or even personally handing you anything. It’s all electronic and automatic. Swipe, lose, drink, swipe more. In order to survive, we’ll need to be a lot more clever, and understand the machine that is trying to manipulate us. I realize that sounds paranoid, but it’s just a normal fact now.

Of course you can just ignore the Rewards Card (I think), but why would you? Free stuff!

Microsoft Surface Table in the Bar

Speaking of drinking, imagine a table that knows exactly when to offer to refill your drink. What am I saying? You don’t have to imagine it, here’s the video:

Say you go to a bar with one of these tables, and it’s a bar which is honest enough to inform you that they have one of these tables, and you don’t want to be manipulated. It seems that your options now are:

• Be more clever and adaptable
• Leave the bar right away
• Bring your own glass

Who knows, maybe if these smart tables become ubiquitous, carrying your own glass will be trendy. Maybe you could buy one and put your Twitter feed on it. (By the way, you can now follow me on Twitter.)

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Future Tech Will Force Us To Be Smarter

Although my income has increased over the past few years, my spending has increased as well. After living the better part of the decade watching just about every dollar leaving my bank account, saving as much as possible, and living within my means, I’ve recently begun allowing myself to spend more freely.

I’m sure to spend only what I have available after accounting for all my bills and obligations and saving a significant portion of the remaining income. I’m currently investing in my 401(k) up to the government-mandated maximum as well as in my SEP IRA as much as possible each year. I’m allowing my bank accounts to grow, in order to have cash available for when I decide to buy a house within the next few years. None of this has changed, though increased spending means my savings are growing a little slower.

Here are some of the big outlays.

Photography equipment

Although I am far from a professional, I enjoy photography. I took one class last summer in order to sharpen my skills and my second class began in January. Photography can be an expensive hobby if you’re not satisfied with a cheap point-and-shoot digital camera. Two years ago this month, I purchased a Canon Digital Rebel XTi, a basic digital single-lens reflex (dSLR) camera. Since then I’ve been slowly accumulating various accessories like lenses. Last year was somewhat tame; I refrained from adding to my collection.

Here are the lenses currently in my arsenal.

• Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM Lens: a replacement after selling the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens that came with the camera
• Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens: great for taking photographs at baseball games
• Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens: perfect for indoor shots and offers beautiful bokeh

The last lens was purchased in 2008, so last year ended without any new major photography purchase. I couldn’t let that continue, so this weekend I ordered the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM 1-to-1 Macro Lens. This will be a better choice than the other lenses for portraits and the only choice among my current options for macro photography.

Coin collecting

I’ve enjoyed coin collecting since I was very young. I’m still dabbling in the hobby only rather than filling coin folders with pennies found in circulation, I’m looking for some nicer coins that have been professionally graded. At the moment, I’m focusing on a set of Lincoln cents, but my next project will likely be a 20th century type set.

Recently, I’ve been successful finding certified coins on eBay at a fraction of the current prices listed in widely-accepted guide books. I don’t intend on buying these coins as an investment, hoping they will increase in value so I can sell and make a profit. I’m more interested in building a collection that I would be proud to own and possibly pass along to a future generation. According to the price guides, I’ve already made a profit on paper.

I’m currently creating a system to track each coin as an investment in Quicken.

Hobbies are luxuries. I feel lucky that I have income I can spend on a few activities that interest me. I’m only able to spend this money after years of living quite frugally, including living with three roommates to share rent, eliminating cable, and finding ways to transport myself without a car. If I had credit card debt, I would not be doing this. If I had student loans to pay off, which I had until a few years ago, I would be dedicating the money spent on photography equipment and coin collecting to eliminating that debt.

For those who are more financially secure, how are you spending your money now? How are you treating yourself and your interests now that you have paid off debt and are still making your savings targets?

I could always do better for my future self by saving and investing even more of my income. But I strongly believe that, when it is practical, I should be doing whatever I can to enjoy my life.

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

My Current Spending Vices and Devices: Photography and Coins

I’m an Apple fan, which I define as being anybody who takes time out from the workday two or three times a year to watch their media events and keynote speeches. I’m happily using a Mac Mini as our entertainment hub at home (Boxee, Front Row and Hulu Desktop? Yes, thanks), I use a MacBook Pro for work, and both my wife and I have an iPhone.

Earlier this week Apple showed off their forthcoming device called the iPad, which they explained is something in between a laptop and an iPhone (or iPod Touch). They pointedly contrasted it with Netbooks, as well they should, since tablets and netbooks serve different purposes. If you sold hardware, and you had to decide which aisle to put the iPad in, you’d put it in the “tablet” aisle.

The rumors and speculation leading up to the reveal were rabid and annoying, as is the resulting disappointment and backlash. I admit I was initially disappointed, too, but I gave myself some time for the information to percolate, and here’s what I’ve concluded.

It’s the User Interface, Stupid

There will always be a kind of person who can’t understand Apple’s appeal. All they see is another computer, but more expensive. My main problem with Apple used to be that you couldn’t buy software for it in the mall, you had to use a catalog, but the Internet fixed all that. I spent more than ten years suffering through Windows before I finally had the resources to switch. And I’m happier for it, since I’ve found that Apple developers think through many more user scenarios than their Windows counterparts do. The interface just makes more sense to me, but it’s clearly not for everyone. You have to unlearn a lot of Windows before you can learn OS X.

“It’s just a huge iPod Touch.”

There’s only one positive hardware difference between the iPad and the iPod Touch: it’s much bigger. But I’ve never had trouble reading anything on my iPhone. When something is too small, I just zoom in. So at first, the iPad was looking nearly useless.

At the Apple event, they made one huge mistake, which was that they didn’t show off any third-party apps which took advantage of the bigger screen. (Gaming might be enough for some audiences, but not yours truly.) They showed off some existing apps, but zoomed them in. Whoops. It wasn’t until the next day that I started imagining special iPad-sized apps for, say, Nurses, or engineers on oil drilling platforms, or cruise directors, or stage managers at fashion shows, maybe. You know, people that you often imagine holding a clipboard. People that need to see a lot of information at a glance.

Is It an E-reader?

Apple talked about the iPad being great for books, newspapers and magazines. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried reading an entire book off of a normal computer screen, versus something that uses electronic ink like Amazon’s Kindle. I have, and I failed each time. It simply hurts the eyes. I tried the Kindle app on my iPhone, and had the same problem. I will reserve official judgment until after it starts shipping and I get some reviews from normal folks, but my suspicion is that it’s not good for reading books.

Is It an iPhone Replacement?

I would say that if you already have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you won’t be replacing that with an iPad, if only for this reason: it doesn’t fit in your pocket. That means you can’t plug in some headphones and take it outside to go rake the leaves.

“That keyboard looks weird to type on.”

I agree. Especially in the preview video, when typing with both hands, it looks awkward. But then I remember that I had the same doubts when the iPhone was new. In fact, the software keyboard was, in my opinion, going to make or break the iPhone’s success. Then I taught myself to type on it, and it’s fine. I’m hoping that with the iPad, you’ll still be able to reach around with your thumbs and type that way. I’ve gotten pretty fast.

“What’s this about no multi-tasking?”

While I haven’t personally found much need to run simultaneous apps on my iPhone, I can understand the usefulness. Contrary to some reports you may have heard, you can listen to music while using other apps. That is unless Apple has grown more stupid since the success of the iPhone, because I can do that on my iPhone.

What It Does Well

To summarize, I think the iPad will be good for:

• People who often carry clipboards
• People who spend too much time on airplanes (because of the battery life)
• People who sell books, magazines and newspapers. If you’re in this group, please consider choosing just one business model instead of insulting your subscribers with advertising.
• People in the entertainment industry. It’s likely more effective to show off your demo reel on a tablet screen as opposed to a mobile phone screen.
• Helpless early-adopters and interminable show-offs. (Not judging, I swear. I love you guys. You let me play with the shiny toys before I decide if I want to buy one.)

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

What the iPad Is and Is Not

Another day, another recall. Normally, automobile recalls are not much of a problem. A recall usually involves bringing your car to a dealership, subjecting yourself up to some sales pitches, getting your car fixed, and driving home. Toyota’s recent string of recalls is more complicated because some of the problems do not have solutions yet.

If you own one of the many Toyota cars affected by one of the company’s recalls, you probably have already received a letter.

Here is what has happened so far:

• November 2, 2009. Toyota/Lexus recalls recent models of the Camry, Avalon, Prius, Tacoma, Tundra, ES350, IS250 and IS350 due to a tendency for the floor mats to obstruct the accelerator pedal. This was a voluntary recall whose solution was simply to remove the driver’s side floor mat. Later that month, Toyota announced a solution to the problem that will require a visit to the dealer.
• November 24, 2009. Toyota recalls 2000-2003 models of the Tundra due to the possibility of excessive corrosion on the frame rear cross-member caused by road salt.
• January 21, 2010. Toyota issues a voluntary safety recall for recent models of the RAV4, Corolla, Matrix, Avalon, Camry, Highlander, Tundra, and Sequoia. This recall is to remedy another problem with the accelerator. In these cars, there may be a tendency for the accelerator pedal to stick, and this is not related to the floor mat problem. On Tuesday, January 26, after months of working with federal safety officials, Toyota decided to stop selling these cars until the problem has been fixed.
• January 27, 2010. Last night, Toyota added to its initial recall pertaining to floor mats obstructing accelerator pedals. Added to the initial list are recent Highlanders, Corollas, Venzas, Matrixes and Pontiac Vibes. The Vibe shares design and construction with the Toyota Matrix.

According to the New York Times, sudden, uncontrolled acceleration in Toyota vehicles has caused 275 crashes and 18 deaths. Researchers have identified 2,274 incidents of sudden acceleration.

Over the past few months, Toyota has recalled 7.6 million cars. General Motors was quick to respond with an incentive for Toyota owners who want to get rid of their cars in favor of one of the American automaker’s vehicles.

Toyota has a strong reputation or being reliable, but these recent events inspire doubt. Here in the United States, shares of Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) have fallen 13% since January 19. If you believe that Toyota will recover, and if you have money you don’t mind losing while gambling in the stock market, it might be a good time to buy Toyota’s stock. I expect Toyota will recover and after some time, their reputation will remain mostly unharmed.

Update: I decided that if I should talk about buying TM, and if I think it’s a good idea for the long term, I should live up to my decision. I bought 10 shares of Toyota Motor Corp.’s ADR today.

Do you see the latest string of crises as an opportunity for investors?

Photo credit: Collin Allen
Dealers Swamped by Worried Toyota Drivers, Associated Press, January 28, 2010

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More Toyota Cars Recalled: Time to Buy Shares of TM?

If my husband had a car to drive to work and had taken my son to school, I would have saved three hours of my day. Yes, three hours.

We are a family of six with one car. This is the result of a decision we made a few months ago when our second car needed extensive and expensive repairs. For a while I thought it was great, as I explained in an article on Wise Bread and described my one-car experiment on The Centsible Life.

Long gone is the optimism and the “gee-isn’t-this-great!” feeling. Now I just want my life back.

So we are seriously talking about replacing the second car. We’ve discussed:

• what we will buy
• how we will pay for it
• paying off my car vs. saving for the new car
• buying a “beater”
• thinking up crazy alternatives (my son suggested Daddy could FLY to work!).

What we can’t change is that we need a car for my husband. He has a job that occasionally requires him to stay late or come in early. His income is our main source of income.

My car is the family car. We have four kids, so it had to be a minivan or a bulky SUV. We chose a minivan for fuel efficiency and safety.

I would discuss more about pros, cons, makes and models, beaters versus running your car into the ground, but I have to go make the house half decent so I can get up at 6:00 am to get everyone ready and out the door so my husband can be at work early.

What have your car buying experiences been like? Do you buy beaters or brand new and run it into the ground? Are you a fan of used cars, or do you think new cars are a better deal?

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Buying a Second Car

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) recently released an updated list of the twelve greenest cars of 2010. The council rates each car with a score, with higher scores going to those cars produce less pollution and are more fuel efficient, resulting in lower energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

Here are the top twelve greenest cars of 2010.

1. Honda Civic GX automatic transmission, compressed natural gas
2. Toyota Prius automatic transmission
3. Honda Civic Hybrid automatic transmission
4. Smart Fortwo Convertible/Coupe manual transmission
5. Honda Insight manual transmission
6. Ford Fusion Hybrid / Mercury Milan Hybrid automatic transmission
7. Toyota Yaris manual transmission
8. Nissan Altima Hybrid automatic transmission
9. Mini Cooper manual transmission
10. Chevrolet Cobalt XFE / Pontiac G5 XFE manual transmission
11. Hyundai Accent Blue manual transmission
12. Honda Fit automatic transmission

When shopping for a car, do you consider your effect to the environment? Most personal finance advice will guide someone to the best car for the available money or the car that is the least expensive to own. New, cleaner technology is often more expensive. Is being green a “luxury?”

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, January 19, 2010
Photo credit: Daquella manera

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

12 Greenest Cars of 2010: Do You Consider the Environment?

I hardly use cash anymore. Almost every financial transaction I make as I go about my business is accomplished electronically or with plastic. Since putting to rest my cash-only experiment a year ago, I’ve only used cash in a couple of circumstances: food delivery when I’m too exhausted to cook, getting my clothing laundered or dry cleaned every few weeks, and supporting whatever issue for which my co-workers solicit (from Girl Scout cookies to bereavement gifts).

Hard money, coins and bills, are becoming obsolete. It will be a long time before cash ceases to exist in commerce, but physical money is less relevant for everyday commerce. Yet, the U.S. Mint continues to churn out billions of new coins each year. I’ve enjoyed collecting coins, hunting through change to find something rare or to fill holes in a book, but lately I’ve had much less of an opportunity to do so. I rarely have change in my pocket.

As I’ve mentioned before, the Mint (and Congress who has authorized this behavior) has gone overboard in their attempts to design coinage that has more value to collectors than it has to the general public. That will backfire; the mass quantities “collectible items” available make collecting them not a very special activity. Coin collecting will never again be the “hobby of kings.”

Rather than making an artistic design for a coin and letting it remain for a generation or two, the Mint presents programs like the State Quarters series. I thought this era was over; I didn’t realize until recently that the Mint intends to continue by releasing 56 more redesigns for the quarter, lasting until 2021.

The American the Beautiful Quarters series announced last year commemorates the establishment of national parks, forests and wildlife refuges. This is a worthy cause but I prefer Ken Burns’ documentary for drawing the public’s attention.

This is really about business. The Mint sells the coins to collectors at a significant mark-up from the face value of the coins, a mark-up that will most likely not be recovered by the collector.

There is some good news. The design for the reverse of the cent seems to indicate the Mint would like to return to a classical approach. I would prefer to see all “leader” portraits and buildings removed from coins to make way for more abstract or symbolic designs. The new union shield and ribbon is a step in the right direction.

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

U.S. Mint: Making Money By Making Money

This article is presented by Kelly Whalen, Consumerism Commentary staff writer. Kelly is celebrating her one-year blog anniversary this week.

Everyone loves a good deal, but finding time to comparison shop at various stores can be time consuming. As a parent of four kids I’m not keen on taking the kids to multiple stores just to save a few dollars, but I have found ways to save money using social media.

As I mentioned in my previous post, you can contact customer service via Twitter and often receive a quick response. It seems backwards that regular customer service isn’t as efficient and fast as social media service, but that’s the nature of social media — it’s quick.

Discounts on services. Did you know you can also contact your service providers to discuss billing issues, or getting a discounted rate? Comcast is a great example of customer service via social media (in this case Twitter) done right.

As part of my yearly financial checkup I go through each and every expense we have to see where we can cut back. I contacted Comcast via Twitter, and was able to secure a promotional rate on our internet service that reduces our bill by nearly $30 a month for a full year. That’s a savings of $360 from taking twenty seconds to send a tweet!

So far I haven’t heard stories of credit card companies lowering APRs on Twitter, so it’s better to go through executive customer service. That trend may change as more companies embrace Twitter.

You may also find people who are willing to do work for you for free or discounted rates. Whether you need a software developer, an assistant, or a staff writer ;) you can find people through Twitter who are willing to help.

Coupons, deals, giveaways, and freebies. Shopping via social media keeps getting easier and more fun. You can become a fan of products, services, and companies you use regularly on Facebook or follow them on Twitter. It benefits the company by allowing them to reach customers who are loyal, and it benefits you in many ways.

Here’s how following or “fan-ing” a company can work for you:

Discounts and coupon codes: You can follow CrocsOnline to get info on their deal of the day, win promotional codes, and win free shoes for example. Boutique hotel chains, clothing manufacturers, small businesses, and big corporations all offer savings to their followers.

Contests: Many companies also run contests on a regular basis. Some may use bloggers to run their contests while others will have guessing games like this example from Roger Smith Hotel in NYC. There are giving away a night in a hotel room every day at 11:00 am EST. Prizes can be as small as a sample pack or as large as hundreds of dollars in gift cards, or even vacations.

Giveaways: You can win giveaways by re-tweeting messages, participating in twitter chats, and by finding giveaways on blogs and websites searching the hashtag #giveaway. If you are following your brands on Facebook they will announce giveaways ahead of time so you can be prepared. It usually involves commenting or emailing the answer to a question.

New products: If you are a fan of a small business they may ask you to sample a new product so they can get feedback from people who are regular users of their products.

Many people I know scoff that they don’t have time for Twitter or Facebook, but using social media as a tool to connect with your favorite companies is a great way to save money.

Have you ever used social media to get a discount, coupon, or enter a giveaway?

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Discounts Via Social Media: A Surprising Way to Save

I last spoke about this back in October, and I’m afraid it fell off the viewscreen for a bit, but I learned yesterday that the “CALM Act of 2009″ (view on govtrack) passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote.

Unfortunately, a voice vote means nobody can tell me how many voted for and how many voted against, so I can’t even make an educated guess regarding its eventual fate in the Senate.

If you haven’t heard of this bill, it basically says a TV commercial can’t be “louder than the program it accompanies” nor can it be “excessively noisy or strident.” It’s a very simple bill (in fact less than two pages long), as all the technical parts are taken care of in an industry-produced set of guidelines called the “Recommended Practice: Techniques for Establishing and Maintaining Audio Loudness for Digital Television.” I think you’ll agree that plenty of TV signal operators ignore these recommended practices.

I’ve only come across one criticism of the bill. To paraphrase, “There are many more important things our Congress should be working on.” I agree, and I believe that they are also working on those. On the other hand, this idea is at least thirty-four years overdue, and I doubt it takes long at all for a Representative or a Senator to make up his/her mind about it. If the bill does become law, this Congress will officially be my favorite Congress ever.

Ironically, since we turned off the regular TV service and are relying on almost-completely-legal Internet sources for our shows, we haven’t had any problems with commercial volume. The future wins again.

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Too-Loud TV Commercial Bill Passed the House

Ten years from now, how do you want to look back on this decade? In terms of my finances, it would be hard to top the last ten years. This was the decade my net worth as I measure it for Consumerism Commentary soared from below zero to $300,000. Sure, that progress pales in comparison to some people; this was also the decade that Mark Zuckerberg made his fortune, and I won’t be appearing on any Forbes list any time soon. I also progressed from earning an income of less than $30,000 while working for a non-profit organization to a six-figure income in addition to my day job.

In the next ten years, it will be a challenge for me to surpass the my progress over the past decade. But when I look back on the 2010s I want this to be the decade my life takes a leap forward in more than just my financial condition. The key to making the most of the next ten years is to start the decade off right.

It’s easy to forget the impact that habitual spending has on your net worth over long periods of time. I admit I was much better at watching my small, unnecessary expenses several years ago. At that point, at the start of the last decade, I was barely earning more than I was spending. I started tracking everything I was spending and I realized I could make some changes to help myself save money at the end of every month.

The small, unnecessary expenses

In an upcoming Consumerism Commentary Podcast, we’ll hear from David Bach who discusses his concept of eliminating small recurring expenses called, “The Latte Factor.” This concept is helpful for recognizing repeated small expenses that could be replaced with something less expensive.

Saving four dollars every weekday doesn’t sound like a lot, perhaps it isn’t worth the trouble. But the calculations tell a different story. Over thirty years, $80 a month saved by making your own coffee rather than buying a gourmet version from a store will save you $28,800. But thanks to the magic of compounding returns, $80 invested in the stock market each month, with an average annual growth of 8%, will provide you with almost $120,000 more than you would have had otherwise. This calculation also assumes the price of the gourmet coffee doesn’t change over thirty years, though I expect it will continue to increase in cost above a self-made cup, resulting in even more money saved.

Even though $120,000 will be “worth” far less thirty years from now than it is now due to inflation, and even though an average annual 8% return in the stock market is not guaranteed, this kind of behavioral change is worthwhile.

Your expensive vice may not be coffee. It could be the two books you buy each month when you could get them from the library for free. It might be your cable subscription. It may be your expensive Faberg&eavute; egg habit. No matter what the repeated offense is, daily small doses hide the true effect. Careful spending analysis or just paying attention can help catch this practice and some slight changes, particularly if they don’t negatively affect your enjoyment of life, will allow your future self to thank your current self.

The large, unnecessary expenses

Although eliminating repeated small expenses will improve your finances over time, the progress you make can be overturned with just one move. The biggest flaw with the Latte Factor and anything that focuses on changing behavior surrounding repeated minor expenses is that it ignores much more powerful forces.

I mentioned you could be $120,000 richer just by saving $4 a day on coffee. But if you buy a house you cannot afford just once in your life, the $120,000 you would have otherwise saved could be completely eliminated. As over one million homeowners realized last year, buying a house more expensive than what you can afford could result in losing this “investment.”

Likewise, if you continue leasing a new car every three years, you’re continuing to pay more money than you need to. I understand that for some, cars are status symbols. That’s true regardless of whether the car is flashy and luxurious, fast and sporty, or eco-friendly. If you want to be part of the crowd and align yourself with the expectations for owners of these cars, you will have to pay for that privilege. The automobile industry came up with leasing as an alternative so those who could not afford to buy a status-symbol car could be trapped into an endless cycle of payments and easily-triggered mileage penalties.

The silent, unnecessary killer: interest charges

It is never necessary to pay any interest — just don’t take on any debt. (I’ve already listed getting out of debt as a way to start the decade off right.)

It’s a bit difficult to avoid debt in today’s world, however. Most people use debt to finance post-secondary education, a car, and a house. Going into debt isn’t absolutely necessary for any of these things, much less necessary for buying clothes and computers. The simple solution is to save money before buying anything until you’ve saved enough to cover the purchase in cash. You could also opt for a less expensive alternative like community college rather than Ivy League or the clearance rack instead of current designer-brand fashions.

Saving for a payment in advance in full is not always practical. Although it is socially acceptable to take on debt for certain large expenses it is in your best interest to eliminate any high interest debt as quickly as possible. Here are some insights about getting out of debt quickly.

At this time, I am enjoying my life free of debt. At some point, I may buy a house, and will likely borrow some of the money to do so. But when I do, there is little (financially) I would want more than to own the house outright and to be free of interest payments.

Let me be clear

I have no problem with anyone who continues to buy daily lattes, expensive cars, or lives life in debt. These are all choices that people make, and every individual or family’s situation is different. We all have free will and we can exercise that free will differently. I think it’s worthwhile to think about consequences and weigh all options before making these decisions, however.

This article is part of a series called Start the Decade Off Right on Consumerism Commentary. Previously: Pay off debt, open a high-yield savings account, invest for the future, do something you love.

Photo credit: Irina

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Start the Decade Off Right: Cut Out Unnecessary Expenses

My family turned off our TV service a few weeks ago, and we’ve been fine so far, watching things through Hulu, iTunes, or Netflix, wherever it’s cheapest. When we get it through iTunes, we’re paying for each episode, when it comes through Netflix, we’re paying a monthly subscription fee, and when it’s “brought to us by” Hulu, we sit patiently through the commercials.

Cable, satellite and phone companies are launching different versions of something called “TV Everywhere”, which will enable online streaming of many TV shows, but only for people who subscribe to their monthly services (i.e. they’re already paying too much for those TV shows). On the face of it, this is no problem. It’s just a bonus service for cable subscribers.

However, because of the way content distribution deals are made, it’d make sense for a TV network to want to deal only with one of these services, and not, for example, Hulu. According to the Washington Post:

Programmers of content — Viacom and NBC Universal, for example — are inclined to keep traditional business arrangements with cable and satellite video companies who have subscription fees and a guaranteed audience that advertisers like, according to the public interest groups. As such, they are “starving” new competitors to cable and satellite firms such as Boxee and Vuze who need access to choice shows and movies to attract viewers.

As a result, public interest watchdogs have filed for investigations by the FTC and the Justice Department. They claim that the big cable companies met in secret to launch this initiative and are colluding to edge out reasonable, à la carte methods of paying for entertainment. You know how like when you go out to a movie, you have to bring proof of your paid membership in the Regal Cinema club, which charges $100 a month whether you go to the movies or not? It’d be like that.

Just as an aside, it seems like the news these days is frequently about companies trying ridiculous and offensive things in order to maintain previous profits, even when consumers have simply moved onto the next thing. Or has it always been like that?

Public interest groups call for antitrust probe of TV Everywhere, Cecilia Kang, The Washington Post, Jan. 4 2010

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TV Everywhere Might Just Be a Big Bully

I almost participated in a boycott of Amazon.com. This was almost a decade ago when Amazon filed for a patent for its 1-Click ordering process. The patent was struck down in 2007 but I didn’t notice. In the face of Amazon’s low prices and, in my state, exemption from sales tax, my convictions didn’t stand a chance.

Today, Amazon is still my retailer of choice. In almost all cases, anything I could buy elsewhere costs less on Amazon if it is available. I decided last year to begin paying the annual $79 fee for Amazon Prime which provides me with free two-day shipping for almost all products and one-day shipping for $3.99.

I have also added the Amazon application to my new cell phone. Now when I’m shopping without advance preparation, I can scan the UPC bar code and view the product information, including price, specifications, and reviews, if Amazon sells the same item. Often, if the price is lower and I can wait another day or two before using the product, I opt to save money and buy from Amazon. I can do this using the formerly-avoided 1-Click ordering from my phone while I am in the store offering the same product for a higher price.

Part of the appeal is that in New Jersey, the state in which I live and the shipping destination for most of the products I buy, I do not need to pay sales tax on internet-based purchases from Amazon. Most states do not require sales tax if the company does not have a retail presence in the state. Amazon in New Jersey falls into that category. If you live in New Jersey or in 44 other states, you do not have to pay sales tax when you purchase and receive items from Amazon. New York shoppers once received the same benefit, but the state, in need of money, has at least temporarily begun requiring sales tax payments.

If you live in Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, or Oregon, Amazon’s practices should not matter because you would not pay sales tax regardless of whether the company has a retail presence.

Theoretically, in states that do require sales tax, you are supposed to pay a “use tax” when you file your state tax return to cover any purchases for which you did not pay sales tax to your state. This would include out-of-state purchases as well as online shopping.

This seems, like the patent filing, to be a way for Amazon to slip through the cracks of the law in order to hold an unfair advantage over competing retailers. Even Target.com, operated by Amazon, charges sales tax in most states. The two sides of the argument are succinct:

• If Amazon does not have a retail presence — physical, brick-and-mortar offices for the retail arm of the company — in any state, the law says it does not need to pay sales tax in that state.
• Even if Amazon doesn’t have a retail presence in a state, it most likely has offices for one of its many subsidiaries in that state. Those subsidiaries require public services like police and fire protection, and should therefore pay taxes to support those services.

Amazon is getting around the sales tax requirement by compartmentalizing every aspect of its business into subsidiaries. Almost all large companies do the same thing in order to benefit from the most business-friendly laws, including those pertaining to taxes.

Here is the real problem, however. Online commerce has existed for over a decade and there still hasn’t been any great progress in determining how best to govern that activity. Until there are more uniform rules, Amazon will do whatever it can to avoid paying taxes, I will shop at Amazon to avoid paying taxes (although it is often the lowest-priced competitor anyway), and out-of-state friends will continue to ship their packages directly to my address to avoid paying taxes.

Should all Amazon shoppers pay sales tax? Money being spent on purchases from Amazon is money that is not being spent in local stores. Those states with sales tax laws are losing out on income, income that is much needed in a recession and when states are having budgetary shortfalls. These shortfalls are recovered through increased income taxes, property taxes, and perhaps roadway tolls, with a larger burden on individual taxpayers. But yet, tax-exempt purchases could be keeping prices down, encouraging spending and some level of economic growth.

Do you pay taxes for your Amazon purchases? If you have never paid sales taxes for products you buy from Amazon but your state’s law changed to require you to pay sales tax, would your behavior change? I do not think the addition of a sales tax on Amazon purchases in New Jersey would be enough to encourage me to buy more products in brick-and-mortar locations. My only considerations and total price and convenience.

Note: This article was updated after it was published to remove an incorrect statement about how retailers collect and pay sales tax.
Sorry, Shoppers, but Why Can’t Amazon Collect More Tax?, Randall Stross, New York Times, December 26, 2009

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Should All Amazon Shoppers Pay Sales Tax?

This article is presented by Kelly Whalen, Consumerism Commentary staff writer.

With only one more day until Christmas you may still be in the market for a few last minute gifts. If you are like me, the idea of driving through traffic and elbowing through crowds to find gifts is not going to bring you any Christmas cheer. After going to my local Target two days ago I can tell you many of the shelves will be empty of what you are looking for anyway.

Here are twelve ideas for finishing up your shopping without leaving the comfort of home.

• E-certificates: Most websites offer gift certificates emailed directly to your recipient. I like Amazon’s gift cards since they have cute illustrations, and really what doesn’t Amazon sell?
• Subscription services: Send a subscription to for your father in law’s favorite magazine, or a Netflix subscription for the movie lover on your list.
• Restaurant gift certificates: You can call your sister’s favorite restaurant and get them to send her a gift certificate, or go to Restaurant.com for gift cards or a dinner of the month club.
• Flowers or live plants: For the person that has everything, or loves plants get flowers or a live plant delivered today. I personally prefer live plants since they last longer.
• Food: If you have plenty of baking supplies on hand you could make a special recipe. Pies, cookies, and even biscotti would make fantastic last minute gifts. You could make a favorite dish, or a recipe you are known for. Why not make your famous enchiladas in a freezer ready container?
• Crafts: You don’t have to be Martha Stewart to make something crafty. A child’s handprint in a frame, a knitted scarf, or even a poem would all make lovely, personal gifts.
• Photos: Give the gift of a photos to share the memories. Whether it’s gift of a picture of you and the recipient, or a favorite photo of your children. Even a slide show would make a fun gift. You can create a photo gallery on iPhoto or Picasa and share it with your family.
• Make a donation: Make a donation to your giftee’s favorite cause, or one that is near and dear to your heart. Especially good for the person on your list who has everything they could ever need.
• Give the gift of time: Whether it’s a gift to the parents on your list for some babysitting, or a gift to your mom for a weekend spent together, time is one of the most valuable and appreciated gifts.
• Cash: It may be impersonal to some, but it is always appreciated. It might make a perfect gift for someone who is struggling financially (though this depends on circumstance)
• Investments: Adding to a 529 plan for a child, giving the gift of stocks, or bonds are some great choices for helping a friend or family member build wealth.
• Regift: It may be controversial, but why keep that cat statue your neighbor gave you when you know Great Aunt Edna would love to have it for cat collection.

Consider sending gifts late if you have to. It’s better to send something after the hubbub of Christmas is over anyhow. I always love that extra unexpected package. Do you have any last minute gifts on your list?

Happy Holidays!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mysza/ / CC BY 2.0

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12 Last Minute Gift Ideas

There comes in a time in a person’s life when they have everything they need. While not necessarily rich, the house is well-furnished and they’re not hurting for clothes. Maybe this someone has even come out and said, “I don’t know what I want, I just know I don’t need any more stuff.” What do you get a person like that?

The old standby is a gift card to a favorite store, or maybe a gift card for something perfectly intangible like some MP3 downloads. But you’d rather try to be more creative, and look at that, time is running out. I heard a few neat ideas from a co-worker yesterday and thought I’d share them with you.

Charity donations

You probably know enough about your friend to make an educated guess about the things they really care about. Consider making a donation to a cause they identify with, be it the ASPCA, the Red Cross, Heifer International, the Electronic Frontier Foundation… the list is nearly endless.

Memberships that show you really care

My clever co-worker from earlier renewed her brother’s NRA membership for Christmas. Maybe guns aren’t her thing, maybe they are, but that doesn’t matter. It was important to her brother, so that’s what he got. What better time than Christmas to practice tolerance?

What could you gift as a membership that you wouldn’t normally get for yourself? NPR or the ACLU, maybe? How about one of your friend’s favorite podcasts that relies on donations to keep alive?

Kiva gift certificate

We’ve talked a bit about Kiva on here before: the service that makes it easy to donate start-up money to developing countries. They’ve got a program for you to give a gift certificate, too, and I imagine it’d be heartwarming and fun to spend an hour or so one of these upcoming mornings for you and your friend to find the right recipient.

Here’s to avoiding stuff and clichés! Good luck, everyone.

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Gifts That Avoid Both Extra “Stuff” And Clichés

(No, I don’t plan on writing about this on a regular basis, just when an interesting milestone occurs.)

It’s been a full week since my family turned off the TV service and to summarize: we’re doing fine. As expected, I’m discovering some of the “known unknowns” of being a person without cable but who still cares about TV shows. Let’s start with the big one.

How much money am I really saving?

In my previous article, I estimated we’d be saving about $100 a month. For some people, that doesn’t seem like a lot. It may even seem like regular TV service is worth that much. But I was finding it increasingly hard to live happily knowing that I was paying for something I wasn’t using.

I put together a spreadsheet of the shows we had “Season Passes” for, which added up to 44 different shows that happen roughly once a year. Not all of them were “OMG I have to watch this!” In fact while collaborating on the spreadsheet with my wife I learned that we like a few things less than I thought we did.

• For each show, I looked to see if it was on Hulu and found that 18, or 40%, of them are.
• If it wasn’t on Hulu, I looked to see if it was on Netflix (we have the Xbox streaming service), and 2 of them were. This is important because those two were from Showtime, meaning we’d otherwise have to pay for them on iTunes.
• Of the remaining 24, I looked to see how many were available over-the-air (we got a tuner for the Mac Mini that’s plugged into the projector) and saw that 9 of them are. We can use the Mac as a free DVR for those and still skip the commercials
• That leaves only 15 of the original 44 that we can’t get for free. If we bought them all, it would cost $364 a year, saving us $70 / month instead of $100 / month.

To put some of that in perspective, we used to pay $29 a month for HBO, Showtime and a bunch of movie channels that were never playing anything good. But we really only wanted to watch Dexter, True Blood and The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Buying those from iTunes will cost $92 a year instead of $348 from cable.

Plus, this way I get to feel the righteousness of only paying for the things I want to watch, which is how it should have always been done in the first place.

The other money thing that’s still unknown is how much money we’re saving on the electric bill by not having the DVR plugged in. I’m not kidding, when I unplugged it, the room got significantly quieter. If only I had one of those Smart Power Meters.

The Spoiler Problem

I follow about 200 people on Twitter, and I read the news from many different sources most weekdays. I even check Facebook sometimes. Some of these people want to talk about the amazing, exciting, “holy crap!” moment on a particular TV show the night before. So I’ve been thrust into the argument: should there be a grace period for talking about a new episode on Twitter, or should people just keep their eyes shut if they haven’t seen it yet? I’ve argued for both sides of the argument, but I’m currently in the “reader beware” camp. It’s just unreasonable to ask people to silence themselves because I’m enjoying a different lifestyle.

So if I don’t want to be spoiled—and I don’t—then I have to know which shows are on which nights, again. In this respect, I’m being transported back to the last century, because with a DVR and cable, it told me what was coming up, and I only had to wait at most twenty minutes to watch the latest enthralling installment. If it means saving $70 a month, I’m willing to risk being spoiled on occasion.

Getting on Verizon’s Radar

Just a few days after Verizon turned off the TV service, I got an e-mail from them like I had never seen before. The subject was “Notice of Claim of Copyright Infringement” and I’ll paste some of the relevant bits here for future Web searchers, and for your amusement:

We are contacting you because our records indicate that the Internet protocol (IP) address provided to us by the copyright owner was assigned to your service on the date and time identified by the copyright owner. While this activity may have occurred without your permission or knowledge by an unauthorized user, or perhaps by a minor who may not fully understand the copyright laws, as the primary account holder, you are legally responsible for all activity originating from your account.

Then it showed me some details of an episode of “30 Rock” I had gotten through a torrent feed. The weird thing is that it wasn’t even a new episode. Here’s the rest of the e-mail:

Copyright infringement is a serious matter that violates U.S. copyright law and subjects infringers to criminal and civil liability. It also violates our Acceptable Use Policy (http://www2.verizon.net/policies/acceptable_use.asp) and Terms of Service (http://www2.verizon.net/policies/tos.asp). If you, or someone using your Internet connection, are engaged in the conduct alleged by the copyright owner, we urge you to stop (and ensure that anyone else who might have access to your Internet connection also stops).

Protecting Your Privacy: The copyright owner has not asked Verizon to identify you, and Verizon will NOT provide your identity without a lawful subpoena or other lawful process. However, if the copyright owner does issue a lawful subpoena or other lawful process that seeks information about your identity or account, Verizon will be legally required to provide the requested information to the copyright owner.

So after verifying this wasn’t a phishing e-mail, I quickly turned off the torrent feeds for shows that were also on Hulu. I created most of these just for backup purposes, in case the TV service got interrupted by weather reports, which is still a potential problem for those shows we’re planning on getting over-the-air.

After Googling a particular phrase, I found a page on Verizon.com that included a link that said something like “read more about our copyright policy”. When I clicked that link, it asked me to log in first. No, thanks.

Did I get put on Verizon’s radar because we turned off the TV? Was it just 30 Rock that they noticed, or are they searching for all NBC shows? Are some popular torrent feeds actually operated by the copyright holder in order to find thieves? We may never know the answer to these questions.

But I can say that I am now doing everything that is both a) legal and b) sensible in order to enjoy the same TV shows we enjoyed two weeks ago. It’s going well so far.

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Life Without Cable TV: Week One

Well, we went and did it. As of today, the Verizon FiOS TV service we’d been mostly enjoying for almost three years is suspended. We’re not replacing it with cable or satellite television, either. The normal TV service is effectively turned off.

I’m scared and nervous and excited all at once. It’s been nearly seven years since I didn’t have a reliable 100+ channel TV service, and back then I was literally eating pancakes for dinner most evenings (and for lunch, when I could afford it, I was having McDonalds).

I say “suspended” because it’s not actually canceled just yet. I suspect we’ll go through with canceling it, but in the meantime we have two (or possibly nine) months to decide without being charged for the service (or the DVRs, or the multitude of taxes…). I was prepared for a termination fee upwards of $200, but I got another option when I called to make the change.

Calling the TV company

When making any changes to your TV (or phone, or Internet) service, always call instead of clicking around online. I have a near phobia of talking to strangers on the phone, but I force myself to do this, because the results are always better. Kelly recently wrote about how persistence pays off, and I have no doubt it’s all true, but I also find that being polite and patient can work wonders.

So I called Verizon and described the situation: “we’re interested in turning off the TV service for at least six months as an experiment to see if we can live without it”. I made an initial call to get a price estimate and check out all the options, since we still wanted to keep the home phone and Internet service. I called back later and was pleasantly surprised to talk to someone who mentioned that if we simply suspend the TV service instead of shutting it off, we can avoid the early termination fee. (I’m sure the business objective here is “more than 0% of the TV suspenders will simply forget they didn’t cancel, and we can start charging them again”. The gentleman I spoke to wasn’t sure if the suspension was good for two or for nine months, so I set a reminder on my calendar to call back and check in 48 days.)

We’ll avoid the fee even if we still do decide to turn it off before the suspension is over, because they’ll only penalize you with the early termination fee within the first four months of the start of a new contract, which we started almost four months ago.

NOTE: Anything in the previous two paragraphs might turn out to be false. I trust Verizon’s Billing Department as far as my dog can spit. Furthermore, I will not be surprised to come home later and find that the Internet and phone were shut off, and that Verizon has lost all record of me ever being a customer. They’ve done that to me before, and it’s one of the reasons I had a black mark on my credit report for years and years.

Multiple replacements

This isn’t to say that we’ll be without TV. I’m finally happy with the way I’ve got a computer hooked into the TV, and between:

• Hulu Desktop App (currently $0, though that is going to change)
• Boxee (primarily for the British shows I download, currently $0)
• the gobs of TV shows available on iTunes (reasonably priced a la carte programming, finally!), and
• streaming Netflix through the Xbox ($8.95 a month),

I honestly don’t think we’ll be missing any of the shows we currently enjoy.

By the way, have you heard of Boxee? I’ve been experimenting with it for months, and next month it’ll finally be in Beta. Here’s an intro video:

That’s what the alpha Boxee looks like. The beta screenshots are quite different, but it looks even more usable.

Yesterday, I also hooked up an over-the-air tuner to the computer, in case we need to watch live TV for some emergency reason like a tornado or what-have-you. I suspect our plan of “watch almost nothing live” wouldn’t work well for people who enjoy watching sporting events, but even so, there have been occasions when an event is big enough that Boxee will carry it live. In a pinch, we could always watch something in a browser window, though that’s not very elegant.

How much are we saving, then?

Remarkably, this will save us about $100 a month (although it remains to be seen how much we’ll spend through iTunes). That’s a stupid amount of money just for TV service, and I’m hoping our experiment works out, because I’m looking forward to saving that money for a long time hence.

What else will change?

I also suspect that this will change our watching habits somewhat. Currently, we’re not a family who sits down in order to watch anything at all that we can find. We’re not channel-flippers. We have a list of shows we like, and we don’t watch things we don’t like. Of course, you have to give new shows a fair audition (four episodes maximum, I’d say), and sometimes my wife will want something on in the background while she’s working at the house, which I suspect will largely be filled with Netflix offerings.

But I think that we might gradually tend toward even more careful viewing. I suppose we’ll have to: there will no longer be an on-screen guide of “what’s on now”. We’ll have to think harder about what we want to watch. Or we might decide in a few months that no, in fact, this is not for us, please give us our TV back. I will, as always, keep you updated.

Incidentally, two nights ago we watched some TV shows without skipping commercials for old time’s sake. It was just as maddening as I remember.

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No More Cable TV For Me

This article is presented by Kelly Whalen, Consumerism Commentary staff writer.

As consumers we often face situations that are both expensive and frustrating. These can be problems of our own doing, such as overdraft fees or closing of an inactive credit card, or problems that are caused by the company’s we are paying, like a credit card company that raises your rate for no reason, or an apartment complex that keeps your security deposit.

Recently a friend, we’ll call him Steve, contacted me with an expensive problem of his own. Steve recently moved into a new home. He had to decide between two cable companies in our area, Verizon and Comcast. Comcast has a reputation for being difficult, so he opted to go with Verizon.

Steve needs internet at home for his job as a manager in IT at a large corporation. Verizon came out and set up his phone line, and DirecTV (who is the cable branch of Verizon) with no issues. Then came the long wait for internet service. Phone calls, three cancellations, and over a month of waiting ensued.

When it became clear Verizon was not going to ever honor their appointments, and after a ton of water time and frustration Steve canceled service with Verizon and called Comcast. Comcast set up his internet as scheduled and Steve did a dance of joy.

The dance was short lived. Soon Steve had a bill from DirecTV for a $460 early termination fee. When he complained, DirecTV said it was Verizon’s issue, not theirs. After several phone calls, which we all know involve insane wait times, he came to me for advice.

Within days Steve had the $460 back in his pocket, and did another dance of joy. How did he do it? He followed 3 simple steps I offered him.

1. Call the big guys. Talking to an entry level customer service rep is fun if you have a twisted sense of humor, but it usually gets you nowhere. Supervisors or managers of customer service reps often robotically spew out the same one-liners that the CSRs use.

Use the power of the internet to find phone numbers or email addresses for the CEO’s or a VP’s office. 95% of the time you’ll get a quick and apologetic response. Links to many company’s executive offices can be found on the Consumerist.

2. Use word of (online) mouth. Brands are now wising up to using social media to monitor what customers are saying about their products. A fantastic place to get help is twitter. Yes, I know not everyone uses twitter, but you should have an account for solely this purpose if for nothing else.

You don’t have to have a million followers to get noticed, either. Big brands are on twitter, and many more are on Facebook. The number of brands using social media is growing daily. DirecTV is on twitter, as are Comcast, Home Depot, and others.

3. Be persistent. While a $10 fee may not seem worth arguing over, I’m sure that you have your price. You’d be surprised how quickly some companies will react. I’ve had fees eradicated in less than 5 minutes. Is 5 minutes of my time worth $40? Heck yeah.

What are some ways you have succeeded in challenging a big company or getting a fee returned to you? I’m about to embark on another credit card adventure with PNC, you can read more about my saga here.

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Persistence Pays Off

The recession has inspired a focus on saving more money among Americans, even if this focus is likely temporary, giving way to excess spending once employment returns to a sustainable level and credit becomes readily available. But for a short time, frugality has permeated the country’s consciousness. It has popped up everywhere, including technological innovation.

Yowza!!

A few months ago, Tom Dziubek and I interviewed Greg Grunberg for the Consumerism Commentary Podcast. You might know Greg as Matt Parkman on NBC’s “Heroes,” or as the driving force — and drummer — behind Band From TV. He also came up with the idea for Yowza!!, an iPhone application coordinates retail coupons with your GPS-based location to present you with deals within walking or driving distance.

To prepare for the interview, I tested Yowza!! on my girlfriend’s iPod Touch. Without access to the internet through a cellular network, relying on WiFi, we were still able to find coupons at home before leaving for a shopping trip, saving the coupon to the iPod, and using it in store. One of the drawbacks — and this might still be a drawback — is there weren’t a large number of retailers participating in the program.

When I purchased a Motorola Droid last month, I was disappointed that Yowza!! was still only available for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Droid phones have a Google-based operating system called Android. Although thousands of applications are available for devices running Android, their development is still well behind iPhone applications.

Hidden away in another application, the joy of saving money through Yowza!! is available for Android; I just didn’t know it until I read Greg Grunberg’s tweets more carefully.

Where

“Where” offers sixteen functions in one free application. It copiously uses the phone’s GPS capabilities to offer weather with a better interface than The Weather Channel’s free app, news, traffic conditions, gas prices, and a business phone book powered by yellowpages.com. The “offers” mini-app is Yowza!! without the brand name. With my Droid, I can walk into a store, display a page, and get my discount, as long as the store has established a relationship with Yowza!! for offering coupons.

Within 15 miles of my apartment, I can pull up various deals for Toys “R” Us, Babies “R” Us, Sears, Crate and Barrel, Finish Line, Sports Authority, Guitar Center, ULTA, The Container Store, Garrett Popcorn, and CB2. There are certainly more retailers listed now than there were six months ago, but it’s still a disappointing list. Where is Best Buy, Home Depot, and my local pizza place? I understand that Yowza!! is based in California, and west coasters will see more of their common retailers represented, but I envision a future where almost all coupons are available via mobile devices.

Google may have the answer.

Favorite Places on Google

Google has determined the most popular retailers in twenty of the largest cities in the United States, Google’s Favorite Places, and has sent them window decals. Like those stickers that notify customers that a store accepts Visa or MasterCard, the hand-selected (or more likely, algorithm-selected) retailers can display a notification that they have a Place Page on Google.

The decals provided by Google contain a QR code (like a bar code) that can be scanned by devices like the iPhone and the Droid. When a QR code is scanned, the mobile device will display the store’s Place Page, a website that contains information about the store including reviews and coupons. With the backing of Google and the company’s incredible reach and reputation, it could take only a short time for Favorite Places to wipe out Yowza!!.

Coupons increase spending rather than decrease spending. If you are going to buy something regardless of a deal, you can save money with these features. In general, I wouldn’t suggest looking for coupons before deciding what to buy because you are more likely to spend money you wouldn’t have spent. Regardless, Yowza!!, Where, and Google’s Favorite Places are great examples of how mobile technology, inspired by the recession, can be used to help customers.

Do you use mobile coupons?

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High Tech Coupons: Yowza!!, Where, and Google’s Favorite Places

It’s becoming increasingly rare, but once in a while it is possible to find interesting coins in your pocket change. Professional and amateur coin collectors tend to snap these up so the coins are taken out of circulation, and many of the most interesting coins are aging and damaged.

I do not use cash on a daily basis, so it’s infrequent that I can sift through pocket change looking for circulated versions of the more rare coins. Here are a few things that are still common enough to find in pocket change, although I haven’t had much luck with any of these.

Although I occasionally consider myself an amateur coin collector, the fact that I have very few of the below proves that this is not a hobby that I’ve put a lot of effort into. I don’t use cash enough to be able to sift through a significant amount of change. I’ve occasionally picked up boxes of coins from the bank for sifting, but it’s rare that I find anything that’s not already accounted for in my Whitman coin collecting holders.

1. Mercury dimes. From 1916 through 1945, the front (obverse) of the dime featured the profile of a woman representing the concept of liberty. The wings on her cap evoke the image of Mercury, the Roman god of commerce. The back (reverse) of the Mercury dime features fasces, symbols of strength in ancient Rome, with an olive branch, symbolizing peace.

I have no Mercury dimes in my collection.

2. Buffalo nickels. In 1913, the nickel was redesigned to feature the profile of a Native American on the obverse and an American buffalo (bison) on the reverse. So far, even with sifting through a box of nickels from the bank, I’ve only come across one buffalo nickel. But if you have more luck than I have, you may come across a 1936 or 1937 coin in which the buffalo is depicted with three legs rather than the expected four. This variety is rare and would be worth money, perhaps $1,000 in exceptional quality.

The buffalo nickel was replaced by the more familiar Jefferson nickel in 1938.

3. Wheat cents. To honor the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, in 1909 the cent became the first coin to depict an American politician. Victor D. Brenner designed the obverse of the coin using a portrait of the former president as a guide. In that first year of the new design, one version of the coin included the designer’s initials on the reverse. If you find V.D.B. on the reverse of a 1909 coin, it could be worth from a few dollars to over a thousand.

When I was six or seven years old, I had a book of wheat cents almost half full. Unfortunately, some time in the past three decades I misplaced that book. Now, I have only a few wheat cents in my collection.

The wheat cent was replaced by the familiar Lincoln Memorial cent in 1959. The obverse remained the same but the reverse received a new design.

There are other interesting coins out there. In fact, there are errors and varieties within the above categories that increases their interestingness, and in some cases, value. But even a casual collector has a good chance of coming across Mercury dimes, buffalo nickels, and wheat cents if paying attention.

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

3 Interesting Coins You Might Find in Your Change

A reached another milestone earlier this week. My 2004 Honda Civic, which I purchased new in June 2004, passed 111,111 miles, after passing 100,000 in March. The car runs wonderfully still, as I expected it would years ago when I purchased it, and I don’t intend on selling it for a while, if at all.

Although Civics traditionally have great resale values, this did not come into play in my decision. I intended, and still intend, if other circumstances of my life remain the same, to keep the car until it dies or until required maintenance makes the car more of a hassle and more expensive to own. I see no reason to buy or lease a new car every few years. With something reliable, held for a long time, I can keep the cost of ownership down so I have more money to save or to spend on other expenses.

For me, this news is somewhat irrelevant, but I nevertheless find these kinds of ratings interesting. Kelley Blue Book has announced its list of sixteen cars offering the best resale value. Resale value is measured as a percentage of the retail price, based on the estimated sale price of the car at five years.

Here is the list:

• Full-size car: Ford Taurus (36.8%)
• Luxury car: Audi A5 (42.3%)
• High performance: Chevrolet Camaro (44.0%)
• Compact SUV: Honda CR-V (44.5%)
• Compact car: Mini Cooper Clubman (46.3%)
• Hybrid/Alt. fuel: Toyota Prius (44.0%)
• Mid-size pickup: Toyota Tacoma (44.0%)
• Full-size pickup: Ford F-series Super Duty (38.2%)
• Mid-size SUV: Toyota Highlander (41.0%)
• Full-size SUV: Honda Pilot (35.7%)
• Luxury SUV: Lexus RX 350 (42.0%)
• Hybrid/Alt. fuel SUV: BMW X5 Turbo Diesel (42.0%)
• Minivan: Toyota Siena (33.3%)
• Mid-size car: Honda Accord (40.0%)
• Near-luxury car: Lexus IS350 (42.5%)

Is resale value a concern when you make your car purchasing decisions? I prefer metrics such as total cost of ownership and reliability.

Photo credit: labnol

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Kelley Blue Book’s Best Resale Value Cars