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I have been a member of Upromise for nearly a year, and I am thinking it might be time to pull the plug.  I tried the toolbar and registering my cards to the account.  I think I ended up with two transactions that paid me anything.  I will let the picture speak for itself:

Fifty two cents!  That’s it.  Far from the average savings of $458 that Upromise suggests.  Here is what I have decided about the site:

1. Unless you get their credit card, you are not going to make all that much anyway.  The credit card is a way for them to make a lot of money and pass a small amount of it to you.  This works like any other credit card rewards program, but pays for college instead of other rewards.  Not such a great deal if you ask me.

2. Unless you make a crazy effort to go to Upromise restaurants and online stores, you won’t make much else.  That is where I got my fifty two cents.  One trip to a restaurant (not on purpose) that is supported by their program and a website domain renewal, which I would have done anyway.  So, it takes spending money to really earn anything back from Upromise.

Overall, I would not recommend this program.  I try to only endorse sites I really like myself, and this one did not earn the Eric seal of approval.

If you want to lose weight, there are two important parts of the puzzle: eat better and exercise.  Those two areas combine to have a big impact, but one is much more important.  It is easier to skip the burger than swim laps for two hours to burn it off.  To make a big difference, you need to control the input, not the output.

The same logic can be applied to finance.  Budgeting, the exercise of personal finance, can make a big difference.  Going from no budget to watching your expenses can save you a lot of money.  However, as some financial bloggers point out, it is important to go for the big kills rather than a nickel here and a dime there.  Cutting your rent, insurance, and cable/Internet bills can save big over the course of a year.  Even more important, though, is income.

If you can save $10 per month by asking your cable company to lower your bill, that is $120 per year, not too shabby.  But if you can get a raise of $100 per month, that is $1200 per year, which is a bigger impact.

What we see here is that controlling your income can have a bigger impact than controlling your expenses.  Easier said than done, right?  WRONG.  There are two major methods to increasing your income.  1. You get a raise or increase income from what you are doing already.  2. You create a new source of income.

I have created new sources of income from a few places over the last year.  The most successful has been eHow, where I have made over $1,000 in the last 18 month.  If I did more there or added another supplement, I can have that grow by more.  It only took a few hours to get started on making that $1,000, why can’t you do it.

Getting a raise is also possible, even in today’s economy.  If you are worth it, your company will pay you more to stick around.  I got a raise of nearly 20% in the same time period my group laid off about 15 people.  If I can do it, you can do it.  Just work hard and be the best at your job.  Sometimes that takes time and careful negotiation, but it is possible.

Ramit over at I Will Teach You to Be Rich is kicking off a series on earning more income, and it is worth a read.  I know there are silent readers out there, please come out of the shadows and let us know if you have secondary income streams in the comments.  Any residual income?  If not, tell us in the comments too.  As a community, I am sure we can come up with some good ideas.

For Chanukah, I asked for and received a Roku.  Roku is like a cable box for the internet.  My box brings in unlimited Netflix streaming videos (20,000 available) and music from Pandora.  It can be setup to do much more.

I decided, upon getting the gift, to cut my Netflix subscription from 2 DVDs at a time for $13.99 per month to 1 DVD at a time for $8.99 per month.  Sure it is only $5 per month, but that is $60 per year.  I can do a lot with $60.  The cheapest Roku costs $80, so this is a 16 month break even point for what I look at as an entertainment investment.

For now, I am sticking with cable as well, but it definitely makes me think.  If I could Hulu through the box as well, and have a digital antenna, it would make me think a lot harder.

So far, I have not used the box a lot but I like it.  It works just like a cable box.  It was easy to setup and has its own remote.  I started watching season one of Dexter on my Roku.  It is just like watching it on TV, but I can pause and leave and come back.  I guess it is like a cable box and DVR in one.

Almost every investment firm offers a 529 account.  They talk about how great it is and how everyone should have one.  Most people have no idea how a 529 works or what it is.  This post will give you a breakdown on the basics of a 529 and what you need to know if you are going to get started with this type of account.

What It Is

Explained simply, a 529 is an education savings account.  529 plans allow you to save for future education expenses.  The funds can be for your future education, your kid’s future education, or any other family member.  Generally people use them to save for graduate school or their child’s future college expenses.  529 funds can be withdrawn to pay for “qualified expenses” such as tuition and fees.

Why You Want One

You might be thinking that you can stash away cash in any old savings account or investment account and do the same thing.  Not exactly.  A 529 account is special because of its tax status.  You can make contributions to a 529 account “pre-tax” from you income.  Like a 401(k), 403(b), or traditional IRA, you can deduct 529 investments from you income before you are taxed on it.

How It Works

 A 529 works just like a 401(k) for the most part.  Many employers offer to make deposits in a 529 account automatically.  This is the best way to fund a 529.  If you can just set it up and forget about it, you will never have to worry about writing a check or transferring the funds every month.

Also like a 401(k), you can pick how it is invested.  You can leave your 529 funds in a savings account or CD, or you can invest it into mutual funds or stock.  If you open your 529 through a brokerage firm, you have total flexibility to invest as you please.  Companies like Charles Schwab or Oppenheimer often give suggestions of how to invest 529 funds to have the cash ready when you need it.  This is probably the best route if you are saving for your own education.  Just remember, like any investment, there are risks.  The firm can help you figure out what is best for you.

While investment firms all offer a 529, you might be better off to check with your state government.  Many states operate a 529 fund where you can safely keep your child’s future.  I know my state, Colorado, has a plan that many parents start investing in when their children are born.  Some state funds perform very well while some have suffered from stock market losses.  Check into your state for details.

Where To Start

Start with your employer.  Look into making an investment straight out of your paycheck.  If you can, you can most likely manage your funds easily and invest into an assortment of funds.  You will have to do a little paperwork when you set it up, but it is easy from that point on.

If you can’t invest in a 529 through your employer, look into a state government or private option.  Compare fees and how easy it will be to make contributions.  Also look into what you will need to do when you are ready to make a withdrawal.  For some plans, it is as easy as writing a check.  Others are more complicated.

Finally, before you make your first investment, take a little time to read the IRS website for 529 details.  It is important to know what you can use 529 funds for and what the penalties might be for withdrawing early.  Be well versed in how the 529 codes work when you get started.  If you have a tax adviser, consult with him/her as well.

It really is that simple.  Use the automatic investing plan to make things easy, even if you can’t with your employer.  You can use bill pay or automatic transfers in an online bank account to fund your 529.  Keep track of the paperwork for tax season.  You can save a lot on taxes if you use this investment method correctly.  It is also nice to have the peace of mind that your education, or your child’s education, is going to be funded without worry.

I recently gave in and took the dive into Upromise.  Upromise is a program designed to give you cash back from select purchases (namely restaurants, online stores, and grocery) to fund a 529 college savings account, pay for college loans, or go directly to education expenses.

Anyone can sign up.  An adult can sign up today for their children and may amass quite a 529 by the time their kids turn 18 and head to school.  Through the program students can sign up family and friends to fund their account.  The nice part, and the reason you know it is not a scam, is that there are no fees to sign up and take advantage.  Rather than write a long post on it, I will link to several good posts I have found about Upromise.  Please take a look and comment here if you already participate or sign up because of this post.

You promise also offers coupons for affiliate companies and a credit card to earn rewards faster.

Upromise Earn Free Money for College – Cash Money Life

Upromise Tuition Tales: $10000 Giveaway » Poorer Than You

UPromise Review: Free & Automatic College Savings

Upromise College Savings Review | Suburban Dollar

Lately I have noticed that the majority of my shopping has taken place online, rather than brick and mortar stores.  As I have transitioned to buying things online, I have found that you can save a ton of money just by typing in a store name on Google.  Here is a list of some online coupon sites that can save you cash online.

RetailMeNot - This site has gained somewhat of a cult following on the frugality blogs.  Sites like Consumerist and Wise Bread tout this as one of the best savings resources out there.  I recently found GoDaddy.com coupon codes on RetailMeNot that saved me a little money renewing the domain for this website.  Also check out sister site BugMeNot to gain access to a free list of logins for free websites that require an e-mail and password.

FatWallet - Fat Wallet is another big online coupon repository.  In addition to online coupons, this site has cash back shopping deals, printable coupons, and a coupon sharing forum for users to post deals they found elsewhere.

CouponCabin - Coupon Cabin has a large searchable directory for online purchases.  It is worth a look if you can’t find anything good on RetailMeNot.

Coupons.com – This is one of the oldest coupon sites out there.  It has a focus on printable coupons to take with you to the grocery store, though some other coupons are on the site as well.

Wow-Coupons.com - This site has a US and British version featuring both online and printable coupons.  The feel of the site is a bit spammy but you can find some deals if you can see past it.

Other sites worth a look include UltimateCoupons.com (another spammy feeling site), mycoupons.com (feels a bit spammy too), and ValPak.com (yes, the people who send you the coupon junk mail).

If you are like me, you have a big stack of US savings bonds that has been accumulating dust in a safe deposit box since you were born.  If you are under 30, those are still gaining interest today.  But what should we do with our savings bonds?  I never thought to cash mine in until I got to grad school, and that prompted quite a bit of research into how to deal with finding the value, paying the taxes, and cashing in my bonds.  I will take you through the process I went through up to today, the day I take my bonds to the bank.

The first thing to do if you have savings bonds, if you want to cash them or not, is to find the value.  The best place to go for that is treasurydirect.gov.  Treasury Direct is the US Treasury website for bonds and similar instruments.  The bond calculator requires you to enter the issue date and face value of the bond to find the current value.  You can enter all of your bonds into the calculator to find the current value of all bonds and interest earned.

If you decide you want to cash the bonds, you should look into tax deduction options.  Using your bonds for qualified higher education expenses (such as tuition and fees) or if you modified adjusted gross income is below $82,100 (or double that if filing jointly with another individual.  Everyone’s situation is a little different, so consult with a tax professional for personalized information.

If you do not cash the bonds, you can convert them to “electronic savings bonds”.  Treasury Direct has a simple process for doing this.  A word of caution, if your bonds are matured and you convert them to electronic bonds, they will be cashed out automatically.  If you want to keep a matured bond, you have to keep it in paper.  To convert the bond, you have to sign up for an account at Treasury Direct and set up a conversion account.  You list each bond individually that you plan to convert, and you mail the bonds to the US Treasury.  The bonds will then show on your Treasury Direct account.  From there, you have the option to cash the bonds in and transfer the funds to your bank account as an ACH or leave them to accumulate interest.  Another perk of Treasury Direct is the ability to purchase and manage all of your savings bonds in one place.

I took the other route to cash my bonds, I went to the bank.  Any bank or credit union in the United States should be able to cash in your bonds.  I took 18 in this morning to convert and spent an hour dealing with the paperwork and whatnot.  If you bring the bonds to the bank, be sure to bring a valid drivers license or other government issued ID with you for verification.  The process is fairly simple, but it does take a while for the bank teller to fill everything out.

You can cash your savings bonds 5 years from the issue date without any penalty.  They will generally reach the face value in 10-15 years, but you can hold on to them to continue accuring interest for up to 30 years for all series E, EE, or I bonds (the most common for individuals).  You must pay taxes on interest earned during the entire period unless you fall into the categories outlined above.

One last issue I want to touch on: savings bonds are not just for kids.  While savings bonds are popular presents for newborns and Bar Mitzvahs, you can buy them for yourself at any time in your life.  Many employers, and Treasury Direct, offer automatic savings bond purchase plans.

While working in banking, I had a customer come in every two weeks with a $500 savings bond that she and her husband had bought 30 years earlier.  Though she was long retired, she had a steady $1000 per month come in from an investment she made during her working years.  This is a great option for no risk investments.  The only downside is that with low risk comes low interest.  Current bond rates are only 1.3% and are fixed for the lifetime of the bond.  New rates are set every 6 months.  If you get a good rate, however, you get it for the life of the bond as well.  The bonds I just cashed earned about 4% for the last 24 years.

I hope this post tells you everything you ever wanted to know about US Government Savings Bonds.  If not, please let me know in the comments.  I promise that I will find an answer to your questions and post them back here.

I just had the pleasure of meeting Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You to Be Rich. He is a very friendly, down to earth guy. His obvious interest in hearing what his readers have to say is a big hint of why he is so successful.

I tried to keep my mouth shut most of the time and just take in what other people have to say. In the hour I spent with Ramit and a handful of 20 to 30 something Denverites, I picked up one major point. Most people do not do thing because of an easy barrier of entry.

Think of how many times you could have done something fun, exciting, or valuable for yourself but did not for some stupid reason that equates to being lazy.

Another interesting point I picked up on was Ramit’s views on frugality. He said he will never talk to you about something like detergent. Rather than spend less than you earn, you should earn more than you spend.  Being rich to Ramit is not just having a lot of money, but a rich life.

I think that is a goal many of us can relate to.  Thanks Ramit for a fun and educational afternoon.

Deep down inside, I know a lot of people probably think saving the big bad company money is a bad thing.  Why would I want to save the cable company money?  Don’t they gouge me every month when I get my bill?  I take a different look at it.  Sometimes saving companies money can save you money, or make you money.  My favorite example of this is paperless billing.

I work with billing a lot at my company.  We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every month sending out paper bills and processing paper checks.  We are always look to cut costs, and one of the most logical ways to do that is to help customers move to paperless billing.  Automatic deductions from your checking account when you pay online without a bill only costs the company about 3 cents.  Mailing and processing checks costs around 50 cents.

How does this help you?  First off, it saves you a stamp.  That is 42 cents, or whatever they cost today, that you can keep every month.  That is $5.04 per year at current rates.  If you pay a separate power, phone, and cable bill, that is $15.12 per year.  Assuming you subscribe to these services from when you are 20 to when you are 70, that is $756 over your lifetime.  That is just the stamps.  You also have to pay for the checks.  Over 50 years that is 1800 checks.  At $6 per box of 200 checks, that is another $54 just for the paper you send in.

Paper billing is also one of the biggest sources of identity theft today.  Someone can grab that bill or check from your mailbox and start printing checks that link to your account.  That can cost you money and be a big hassle to clean up.

Also, imagine the carbon footprint of cutting down trees, processing the paper, exhaust from the mail truck, and so on.  If you care about saving the planet, like me, this is yet another reason to save the big company money.

Today, companies are laying off thousands of people without blinking an eye.  If you company had an extra $500,000 per month, they could pay a lot of people.  Do you have a friend or neighbor that works for a big company in your city?  While it is not directly related, you could be saving their job.

What else do you do that costs companies money?  Paperless billing is just one example of how you can help yourself, the economy, and the company without leaving your computer.  Just something to think about.  Do you have any other good examples?  Please leave them in the comments.

I like do it yourself projects. I have installed new toilets, fixed doors, patched drywall, and a few other odds and ends around the house. Generally, those types of projects are easy enough that I can do a good job without breaking the bank on a professional.

There are other DIY projects that are better left to a professional. I do not trust myself to work on any real pluming or electrical issues. I could flood the house or burn it down. That is not worth the risk.

Finally, there are projects that are cheaper when left to the professionals. Some shops can change your oil for less than you can buy it and do it yourself. I once bought five quarts of oil and a filter for $5 more than Walmart would have charged to do it all for me.

The moral of this story: do your research. DIY is fun, but not always the most economic option. Like everything else in life, do your research before undertaking a project or making a purchase.