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Carnival of Personal Finance #281: Halloween Candy Edition

This article was written by Flexo in Carnival. 27 comments.

Holidays are about two things: family and food. Halloween is no different. Although families celebrate some holidays with a large meal, with ingredients like turkey, ham, fish, potatoes, and pies, the central food theme of Halloween is candy.

Once a year, everyone is provided an excuse to eat the stuff that parents always told them would rot their teeth, and not feel guilty (or as guilty) about it. The costumes can be entertaining, and I try to reward the better costumes I see with the better candy. For this Halloween edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance, I’m looking at some of the better and more popular candy for the holiday.

The Carnival of Personal Finance is a weekly celebration of the best articles covering a variety of money-related topics from the blogosphere. Consumerism Commentary initiated the Carnival in June 2005 and the event has continued on a weekly basis since then.

Editor’s picks

Twix is the only candy with the cookie crunch — at least it was when George Costanza said it. Twix was first produced in the United Kingdom in 1967 but didn’t find its way to the United States until 1979. The Twix bar was known internationally as “Raider” until 1991 when the brand was changed worldwide.

Here are our favorites for personal finance articles this week:

FT from Million Dollar Journey presents Wealth Tips for New College Grads. Here are strategies for going from a net worth of a negative $160,000 to a positive $500,000 in seven years.

Jenn from Paying Myself presents I thought I was supposed to be rich.. We tend to think lawyers are rich — or at least financially secure — but there may not be much truth to that stereotype.

Ryan from Cash Money Life presents Guaranteed Ways to Get Fired, and says, “It’s easy to get fired. Just follow these tips. Or, if you like your job, do the opposite and make yourself indispensable.”

Neal Frankle from Wealth Pilgrim presents Private Career Colleges – Calculate the Value. Are private career colleges worth the cost of tuition?

Bob from ChristianPF presents 7 Reasons To Rent Instead Of Buying A Home. If you are considering purchasing a home, think through these advantages of renting before you buy.

Nicole and Maggie: Grumpy Rumblings presents Another comment on doing what you love. Should do what you love or go where the money is? This article tackles to age-old question and helps explain the main purpose of a college education.

Betty Kincaid from Control Your Cash presents Debunkery yet again. Brett Favre’s riches are derived from one thing: how much revenue he can generate for his organization.

Continue reading for more of the best personal finance articles from the past week. Read the full article →

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What Size Bonus Would Convince You to Sign Up for a Credit Card?

This article was written by Flexo in Credit. 8 comments.

As a number of Consumerism Commentary visitors have mentioned over the past few months, it’s getting harder to find good credit card deals, including 0% APR no-fee balance transfer offers and worthwhile sign-up bonuses. Other commenters who have been successful milking credit card companies with balance arbitrage strategies have slowed down their pursuit with fewer deals and lower interest rates on savings.

Yet, there are still many credit cards, like the AmEx Platinum Business FreedomPass card, that offer sign-up bonuses in the form of cash back or “points,” though redeeming the reward may either be a hassle, require a waiting period, and/or take the form of a statement credit or retail gift card.

How effective are these bonuses, particularly when there are so many restrictions? What would it take to get you to sign up for a new credit card? You have to weigh the possibility of a temporary decrease in your credit score. You also have to keep in mind your predisposition towards credit use. With a new card, perhaps you would be tempted to spend more.

It’s important to note that $50 (for example) has a different “value” for different people. An extra $50 could be the difference between coming out ahead for the month and falling behind. Money received from a credit card bonus might be what enables someone to make their child support payment.

This isn’t lost on the credit card issuers. They know “low hanging fruit” will snag users more likely to become permanent and profitable customers. These customers pay for those who take advantage of credit card issuers by being smart and careful about rewards.

I have not seen any bonus available that would convince me to sign up for a new card at this time. For me, the threshold would be $300 or $400 in cash. I would meet the minimum requirements for receiving the bonus and then forget about the card unless it also offers cash back on purchases at a level higher than the cards I use currently (American Express Blue Cash for Business and Citi Dividend World MasterCard).

I would expect that some individuals will never be tempted to sign up for a credit card regardless of the amount of the sign-up bonus, while others have no qualms about gathering as many credit cards as possible to take advantage of the cash that is out there.

How much would it take for a credit card company to buy your patronage? Do you have a dollar minimum after which you’ll start to consider taking advantage? Or would a free flight be attractive to you?

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The Price of Milk Might Decline in 2008

This article was written by Flexo in Consumer. 15 comments.

In 2007, the price of milk at the grocery store increased 12%. Spending on milk accounts for 12% of the “average” American household grocery budget, so this was a significant increase.

This year, the agriculture industry is predicting that milk prices will level out or even decrease thanks to an increase in supply. However, some analysts believe that any reduction in wholesale prices may not find its way to the grocery shelves.

I’m not an “average” American household. I purchase food for myself only. Not only that, I’m lactose intolerant, so I only use small amounts of milk in cooking, and I never drink the stuff.

cow I buy Lactaid brand 2% reduced fat milk, usually one quart per month. Today’s retail price at my grocery store for this brand is $4.19 for a half gallon. This is compared with the Tuscan Farms brand of milk (including lactose) at $2.69 for a half-gallon.

My milk is more expensive, but I don’t buy much of it. That limits my exposure to last year’s price increase.

Did you feel pain in the wallet last year as a result of increased milk prices and did you cut back on your milk purchases?

Image credit: fiskfisk
Holy cow! Consumers get a milk break [CNN Money]

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Ignore the Inflation Rate

This article was written by Flexo in Economy. 6 comments.

Forget what the government tells you about the inflation rate, known to economists as the CPI. The CPI may come into play when dealing with economical issues, but don’t expect your real expenses to increase at a rate nearly as low as the rate quoted by officials. First of all, the CPI doesn’t include food or energy, two items that are sure to be a major expense in most households. As crazy as this sounds, it’s by design. Not only that, but the method of calculating the inflation rate has changed over time; if the old rules were still in effect now, the official rate would have been much higher these past few years.

Right now, the official rate of inflation is around 3%. Meanwhile, gasoline prices rose 8% and food prices rose faster than inflation this year.

Food and beverage prices are rising at a 4.4% annual rate. But dairy prices are up 13% (and 26% for a gallon of whole milk alone), thanks to price supports and brisk exports of powdered milk. Meanwhile, meat prices are up 6%, and bakery products are up 4.6% because corn is being converted into ethanol instead of animal feed, muffins and sweetener.

Food and energy are two major expenses for many households. College tuition and health care costs have outpaced inflation, as well. If you take a look at your year end totals in Quicken or Microsoft Money, you’ll likely see that your expenses have increased much more than the 3% or so quoted by the government. Calculate your own inflation rate and use that for making decisions about where to cut back.

The discrepancy between economists’ calculations and any individual’s reality is to be expected — the CPI doesn’t measure personal expense inflation, it’s more of just a marker to signify one aspect of the economy. For all practical purposes, it is meaningless. Are your investments providing you a better return than the CPI? That is probably considered a low benchmark for investment performance, as you want your money to grow to at least match your purchasing power from the previous year. Unfortunately, it’s highly unlikely that, assuming a 3% inflation rate, everything you could buy for $1,000 this year will cost $1,030 next year. Investments will have to surpass the inflation rate significantly in order to provide the same real purchasing power.

photo: Stewart
Your Real Cost of Living [Kiplinger]

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My Picks From the Top 100 Undiscovered Websites

by Flexo

PC Magazine recently published a list of their editors’ picks for the top 100 “undiscovered” websites. The list spans a variety of categories from reference to music to health. Consumerism Commentary readers are probably familiar with a few of these sites, particularly those in the “money” category. Here are some of the highlights throughout. Hard ... Continue reading this article…

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Toys for Lunch

by Sasha

I have a confession to make. My name is Sasha, and I’ve spent the last five years completely opposed to bringing my lunch to work. Diametrically opposed, in fact. I’d shudder when my favorite frugal bloggers brought it up, shifting to the next topic as quickly as I could. “Yes,” I’d think to myself, “I ... Continue reading this article…

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