1

Breaking Up With E-Loan, Plus 175th Carnival of Personal Finance

Posted by Mr. B
at October 25, 2008

(This is a lament for the E-Loan Savings Account.)

Dear E-Loan,

Oh, how far your greatness has fallen! Back when you were young, you greeted me with your glorious 5.5% APY! How I rushed to you, and how you comforted me! I looked at you in wonder and with confidence, and I bestowed upon you all the riches that a poor grad student could muster. You were an inspiration. You were my first… online savings account.

Even during The Great Rate-Cutting Siege, you maintained your composure well. We all sacrificed during that enduring time of trial, but you managed keep your rate high. My faith in you was not shaken… much. Those other suitors tempted me, and I admit that I was tempted! But still, I clung to you….

Now, while picking through the wreckage left by the Emperor Bernanke and his Fed Funds pillagers, I must tell you something. Though it breaks my heart to say so, I think we should go our separate ways. We’ve had some good times, but you were not able to endure the Rate-Cutting Siege like I thought you would. You’ve languished in recent months, barely attempting to keep my interest, and every other suitor has exceeded you. You are but a shadow of your former self.

I have to admit: the final blow came when you started sneaking around behind my back. When you surreptitiously dropped your rate to a shocking 1% without telling me, I knew we were finished.

Even now, it’s like you just don’t care. You’ve dropped your rate so low, even the rarely competitive ING Direct is besting you. I wish I could say something like, “It’s not you… it’s me.” Alas E-Loan, I cannot. It IS your fault, and we are now finished. Though I will never forget you, I must seek my fortune elsewhere.

Not Yours Forever,

Mr. B

crappy E-Loan rates

crappy E-Loan rates

——-

Thanks for allowing me that creative indulgence. In other news, thanks to J. Money over at Budgets Are Sexy for including my post on Making Granola from Scratch as part of the 175th Carnival of Personal Finance.

Carnivals, Savings
0

Restaurant.com Coupon, Plus 173rd Carnival of Personal Finance

Posted by Mr. B
at October 13, 2008

Diners rejoice! Restaurant.com has a coupon for 80% off their restaurant gift certificates. Enter EIGHTY as the coupon code at checkout, and you can purchase a $25 gift certificate for only $2. Amazing.

Just enter your ZIP code to see participating restaurants in your area. I lucked out - one of my favorite breweries is in the list for my area, so I bought 4 gift cards ($100 value) for a whopping total of $8. The gift cards are immediately available for you to print.

The code expires on October 15, so act fast. Just be sure to read all the fine print. Most gift cards specify a required minimum spent, such as $35. Alcohol is usually not covered.

My wife and I took advantage of this deal tonight. We popped into ye old Pub and carefully planned our meal so that the total was about $37. With the gift card applied, we only paid about $12, plus tip. Nice! Hey, I even paid with my 5% cashback credit card!

In completely unrelated news, thanks to Ginger at Girls Just Wanna Have Funds for including my post on 7 Free and Simple Ways to Protect Your Privacy Online as part of the 173rd Carnival of Personal Finance.

Carnivals, Deals
2

Make Your Own Granola from Scratch: A Guide, plus Cost Breakdown

Posted by Mr. B
at October 12, 2008

Ever since I was a small boy, granola has been one of my favorite cereals. My parents encouraged me to eat it for health reasons, but I just loved the taste. I’m sure my parents were thrilled to feed me granola rather than an onslaught of sugary, artificial cereals.

Fast-forward 20 years or so, and I still like granola. It’s healthy, and it gives me energy to make it through the morning. I also enjoy it mixed with yogurt and fruit as a quick snack.

Granola is also one of the most expensive cereals in my grocery store. A 28-ounce box of Quaker brand granola costs $5.90 around here. If you go for the organic variety, it’s even more expensive. The high price made my wife and I wonder about the cost of making granola from scratch. Would it be worth the effort?

The answer is an emphatic maybe. If you don’t regularly add granola to your grocery list, making it from scratch probably isn’t worth the effort. I think making homemade granola is worthwhile for a few reasons. First of all, if you really like granola, then making it from scratch is cheaper. Second of all, it’s easy to tailor it to your desires. Like coconut? Toss a few extra pinches in there. Think raisins are disgusting? Don’t add them. Thirdly, I’m a rabid label reader in the grocery store. If I don’t recognize the ingredients, or if I question their usage, I won’t buy the product. Most of the granola packages in the store have questionable ingredients. Hydrogenated oils? High-fructose corn syrup? Extra sugar? C’mon. That’s just unnecessary.

Making your own granola is not only cheaper in the long run, but you get the personal satisfaction of knowing exactly what’s in it, customizing the flavor to your taste. Best of all, it’s far easier to make than you might think.

Basic Ingredients

At the very least, the basic ingredients that you will need are:

Naturally, there’s some flexibility here. Feel free to eliminate the raisins if you don’t like them. You could also substitute a different kind of nut, such as pecans. For the choice of oil, I use Canola oil for both dietary and monetary reasons.

Optional Ingredients

Of course, there’s a ton of customization that you can make here. I’m listing the optional ingredients that I like to use, namely:

Here’s a shot of my full ingredients:

Feel free to substitute or add ingredients to your own taste, such as dates or other dried fruit.

One homemade “batch” of granola yields about 28 ounces, comparable to a large store-bought cereal box.

Step One - Mix Ingredients

Let’s get started. The first thing to do is mix together the dry, non-fruit ingredients, namely the oats, peanuts, sesame seeds, and wheat germ. Hint: chop up  or crush the peanuts for best results.

Next, add the wet ingredients (honey and oil) and mix together.

Step Two - Bake

Alright, we’re done with the preliminary work. Now it’s time to bake! Spread the mix onto your favorite baking/cookie sheet (with a lip). Smooth it with a spoon until it’s even.

Bake at 300 degrees (F) for 30 minutes. After 15 minutes of baking, gently stir the mix and smooth it evenly again. When it’s done baking, it should have a nice, toasted look, like this:

Step Three - Add Final Ingredients

The last step is to toss in the remaining fruity ingredients, such as the raisins and coconut. Mix together thoroughly.

Allow it to cool, and congratulations! You’re finished! Of course, you need to find a place to store your homemade granola. My wife and I have a metal tin that works nicely, but feel free to improvise.

Yum! Doesn’t that look delicious? Aside from the baking time, putting the batch together took very little time and energy. I estimate that the entire process took 45 minutes, start to finish.

Price Breakdown / Cost Analysis

How much will making homemade granola cost you? Let’s take a look. Naturally, there’s a lot of wiggle-room here since prices may vary widely depending on the store and the region, but here’s what I paid at my nearby Kroger grocery store.

Grand Total: $28.48

As you can see, the most expensive item on my list is wheat germ. If I leave it out, I would only pay $23.89. As I mentioned, one “batch” of homemade granola yields about 28 ounces, so the first batch cost me about $1 per ounce (or about $0.85 minus wheat germ).

In comparison, one 28-ounce box of Quaker granola costs $5.90 at my grocery store, or about $0.21 per ounce. Yes, the Quaker brand is much cheaper compared to the first batch, but let’s see how it compares after several more batches.

Second Batch - Getting Cheaper

To make my second batch of granola, I don’t need to buy ANYTHING! I still have plenty of leftover ingredients, bringing my total cost down to roughly $0.50 per ounce (or $0.43 without wheat germ). Getting better.

Third Batch - Even Cheaper

For my third batch, I only need to buy oats again, bringing the total cost down to about $0.35 per ounce (or $0.30 without wheat germ).

Fourth Batch - Still Cheaper

Now I only need to buy raisins, bringing the total cost down to about $0.29 per ounce (or $0.25 without wheat germ). It’s still more expensive than the Quaker brand right now, but if we continue this pattern….

Twelfth Batch - Way Cheaper

By this point, I will have only had to buy oats, raisins, and peanuts again, and my effective cost per ounce is down to about $0.14, or $0.13 without the initial wheat germ purchase. In other words, I’m saving about $2 per batch compared to the Quaker granola. Nice!

Making It Even Cheaper

I wasn’t thinking too clearly when I bought my first set of ingredients. Specifically, I should have bought the largest container of oats that I could find, rather than the smaller canister. This will reduce the cost-per-ounce significantly!

My best advice here is that if you know that you will always use a specific ingredient (such as peanuts), buy in bulk. It will make subsequent batches much cheaper.

Also, you can significantly reduce the startup cost by using a cheaper oil. I prefer Canola oil, but if you use vegetable oil, you can save a buck or two upfront.

Obviously, eliminating wheat germ from the ingredient list saves a lot of money at first, but by the time you reach the twelfth batch, the differing costs-per-ounce is negligible. Since a jar of wheat germ will fuel an almost-limitless number of granola batches (and is healthy to boot), I think it’s worthwhile to include it.

I should also mention that you may already have many of these ingredients in your cabinet already, thereby greatly reducing your startup cost.

Conclusion

As I mentioned before, making your own granola from scratch probably isn’t worthwhile if you only eat it occasionally. For us, it’s a staple food, and we plow through a batch every week or two. Here’s what I had for breakfast:

Looks yummy, doesn’t it?

At the non-optimized price I paid for the ingredients, I’m breaking even with the Quaker brand by the sixth or seventh batch. After that, it’s all extra money in my pocket - a couple dollars for every batch we make. Plus, we have the added benefits of flavoring it to our tastes AND knowing exactly what is (and isn’t!) snuck into the ingredients. No hydrogenated oils or high-fructose corn syrup here. These reasons alone make it worthwhile for us.

If you don’t eat A LOT of granola, I doubt it’s worth your time and money. If any of you fellow granola fans give this recipe a shot, let me know how it goes for you. Enjoy!

(Many thanks to Trent at The Simple Dollar for unknowingly providing the inspiration behind this article via his tutorial on how to make your own homemade oatmeal packets)

Frugal living
4

Fed Cuts Rate - Dollar Savings Direct Savings Rate Goes UP?

Posted by Mr. B
at October 8, 2008

(Rates may be out-dated. Please see the Current APY Wiki for updates)

Can you believe it? This morning the Fed issued an emergency rate cut down to 1.5% (from 2%). While this is not unexpected - Wall Street has been crying and blubbering about a rate cut for a while now - the reaction of Dollar Savings Direct IS surprising.

Instead of dropping their savings rate, which is what tends to happen following the Fed cut, they RAISED their rate from 3.75 to 4% APY. Here are a few highlights of the account:

Dollar Savings Direct is a newly-spawned online savings account from Emigrant Bank. I’m still perplexed as to why Emigrant didn’t just raise the rate on their existing Emigrant Direct site instead of creating a brand new division. Oh wait, I forgot about that whole GREED element. You know, that same greed element that’s currently causing our economy to crater?

I’m on the fence as to whether or not I will take the time to open this account. I admit that I sprung for the Washington Mutual 4% offer a few weeks ago, and we saw what happened there. I was only able to enjoy a brief period of high rates before the bank changed names and dropped the savings rate to 3%.

Still, any rate increases are good right now, and I applaud Dollar Savings Direct for raising their rate despite the Fed’s move to punish those of us who keep a chunk of change in savings accounts. I only hope they manage to keep the rate that high for more than a few days/weeks.

Banking, Savings, The Fed
0

Dear Economy - I’m Helping!

Posted by Mr. B
at September 26, 2008

Dear Economy,

I am sorry to hear that you have not been feeling well lately. However, I have some news that might cheer you up! Last night, my wife and I did something that we haven’t done in a long time. No, not that, you pervert. :-) Ahem… we drove our car. Furthermore, we bought gas.

I only mention this because it’s such a rare thing for us to do. You see, my wife and I live in a glorious little town with excellent public transportation. We also make great use of our glorious little bicycles. As a result, we only buy gas every few months. Before last night, the last time we bought gas was in early June.

We only drove our car because we went out to eat at a glorious little restaurant. You’d like it. It’s a local place, middle-eastern cuisine. It’s popular in our town for its uniqueness, attractive prices, and delicious food. The Greek/Turkish coffee is amazing!

We chose to eat there for two reasons: 1) We like supporting local places instead of big chains, and 2) we have a discount diner’s card that gave us a free meal with the purchase of another meal. We had two regular meals and coffee for a grand total of $13.

I realize that in order to make you feel the tiniest fraction better, I should have paid full price instead of using the discount card. Sorry about that. However, if it’s any consolation to you, I DID pay with a credit card!

Except… the credit card that I use gives me 5% back at restaurants. Except… I pay my bill in full every month. Again, I realize that I should give you a little boost by paying minimum balances, but I just can’t seem to help myself. Apologies.

Come to think of it, I doubt any of the dozens of sign-up offers I’ve taken advantage of in the last couple of years helped you at all, have they? Sure, those extra thousands of dollars in side income came in handy, but I bet they helped ME a lot more than they helped you.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I somehow feel the tiniest-bit responsible for your current malady. Instead of being foolish with my money, I save. Instead of making impulse purchases, I resist. Instead of driving a gas guzzler, I bike. Instead of going out to eat every day, we cook at home. Heck, I’m even earning interest on my “economic stimulus” check! Have I made my point?

For all of these responsible acts, I apologize. I should have had your best interests at heart instead of my own. Only then, I might ask, would you be willing to give me a personal bailout?

Get well soon! I assure you that I’m doing my best to get you back on track, even if my best is only one tank of gas a quarter.

Wishing you a speedy recovery,

Mr. B

Humor, Market
0

R.I.P. Washington Mutual

Posted by Mr. B
at September 25, 2008

Fairly beloved, we gather here to say our good-byes. In the biggest bank failure in US history, Washington Mutual crumbles. Her assets will be acquired by JPMorgan for 1.9 billion dollars.

Wow. Don’t fret, though. Before you rush to withdraw funds, read this. Via CNN:

Federal regulators, who helped shepherd the deal, stressed that the transition for WaMu customers would be “seamless… There will be no interruption in services and bank customers should expect business as usual come Friday morning,” FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said in a statement.

I admit: I just opened an account with WaMu for the 4% savings special. Right now they only hold $10 of mine. I’m not terribly worried about it.

I AM worried about what JPMorgan will do to WaMu’s current rates. Will they keep the 4% APY on savings and 5% APY on CDs? Or will it turn into the abysmal, sub-1% rates that Chase currently offers on its savings accounts? Ugh.

As of this typing, WaMu is still offering the high rates, but who knows how long they will last? Now might be a great time to open a 5% CD.

So, another one bites the dust. Perhaps the Federal Reserve will fail next.

Banking
5

7 Free and Simple Ways to Protect Your Privacy Online

Posted by Mr. B
at September 22, 2008

I take online privacy very seriously, especially since I’ve been a victim of identity theft before. While no system is absolutely foolproof, there are a number of things that you can do right now to reduce the risk that your personal information will be used maliciously. Some of these tips are a little geeky, but most are quite simple. Best of all, none of them will cost you an extra penny!

1. Get a Better Browser

(Difficulty - Easy)

First things first, if you are not using a browser with built-in phishing protection, stop what you are doing right now and get thee a replacement! What is phishing? It’s a despicable attempt by scumbags to trick you into revealing personal information on phony sites. Ever received an e-mail from eBay, PayPal, or a bank asking you to re-confirm your account by clicking a link and typing in your username and password? That was a phishing attempt, and if you DID enter that information, it was likely stolen. While most newer browsers offer some protection against phishing, some do not. I’m looking at YOU, Internet Explorer 6. You too, Apple Safari!

Suggested browsers that all include phishing protection:

2. Use OpenDNS

(Difficulty - Medium)

This one is essential, but don’t run away in fright. It’s simpler than you may think. In short, OpenDNS is a free Domain Name Service (DNS) that you can tap into from your computer (or your router). Setup is easy. You don’t even have to install anything.

What can it do for you? A lot!

For starters, it provides additional protection against phishing, which is enough reason alone to use it. In conjunction with a better browser, this is a double whammy against phishing attacks. OpenDNS also automatically corrects common misspellings and re-directs you to the appropriate site. For instance, if you type craigslist.og, it will automatically forward you to craigslist.org. Slick.

That’s not all, though. OpenDNS gives you extensive control over content filtering. Want to quickly block access to an individual site or adult-related sites in general? Done. Check out the screenshot below.

Again, all of this is FREE. For best results, configure OpenDNS on your router, not just your individual computer. That way, everyone on your home network is automatically protected.

3. Use a Password Manager

(Difficulty - Medium)

You probably have a lot of account information to remember, don’t you? Most people nowadays have online access to banks, credit cards, utilities, and a plethora of random Internet services, such as eBay, Flickr, and (shudder) MySpace. Wait, don’t tell me that you use the same username and password over and over again, do you? DO YOU?

Recycling the same login information for every site is a brutally-bad idea. You are literally putting all your eggs in one basket, and if your information is compromised, it’s compromised everywhere. How, then, do you manage to remember all those usernames and passwords if you create new login information for every site?

Some people use pencil and paper, some type it into a text document and hope for the best, and others (like myself), use a password manager.

Personally, I like KeePass, and I’ve written about it before. Essentially, it’s a program that securely organizes all my usernames, passwords, and security questions. All you have to do is set a secure master password and lock all your information within the database.

Best of all, it’s free, and the learning curve is pretty slim. You can also carry it around on a portable USB flash drive. That’s what I did in Greece this past summer, and thanks to KeePass, I never had to type a single password at all the Internet cafes I visited.

Just try it. It may change the way you handle login information.

4. Protect your E-mail - Use Disposable Addresses

(Difficulty - Easy)

Ever visit a site that requires you to enter an e-mail address for some obscure reason? Or maybe you need to enter an e-mail address into a web form, a public forum, or anywhere else that may result in a deluge of spam in your inbox.

In times like these, a temporary, disposable e-mail address works wonders. All you have to do is generate a disposable address (valid for a few minutes or hours), use it for your intended purpose, and then walk away. No spam from that site will touch your real inbox.

While there is a growing number of disposable e-mail services available, here are a few of my favorites:

5. Take Advantage of Virtual Credit Card Numbers

(Difficulty - Easy, when available)

Are you comfortable using your credit card for shopping online? I am, but I often add an extra layer of security by utilizing a temporary credit card number. The idea is brilliant, yet simple. Not all credit card services offer this, but for those that do, here’s how it works.

Whenever you want to buy something online, simply generate a virtual card number that is tied to your real one. Submit the virtual number and expiration date to the online merchant and buy your product as usual. That’s it. At no point did you reveal your true card number.

Most services also offer additional customization, such as the ability to limit the transaction amount as well as auto-expiration of the virtual number. For instance, you could generate a virtual number that expires in two months and has a total transaction limit of $25. Any amount beyond that will be rejected. You could even generate a number that’s valid for only one usage.

A few companies that offer this service are:

To see if your existing Citi card offers this ability, take a look under the Tools & Services menu in your account. You can also view existing cards with this feature.

If virtual numbers are available to you, it’s certainly worth the effort to use them. Adding another layer of security and privacy to online shopping never hurts.

6. Protect your Phone Number

(Difficulty - Easy)

How would you like a more secure, controlled environment for your phone number? There are two solutions that I like - one for the short term, and one for the long term.

Formerly knows as CraigsNumber (for providing privacy on Craigslist listings), inumbr is an auto-expiring, FREE phone number service that forwards calls to your home or mobile phone without revealing your actual number. Think of it as a disposable e-mail address, but for your phone. You can create a temporary phone number that’s valid for as little as one hour, or as long as one month.

Trying to sell something online, or need to make a listing in the classified ads? Generate an inumbr first and keep your true phone number a secret!

GrandCentral (by Google) is a similar FREE service, but the number that they generate for you is your permanent number. However, you can link that number to all your existing phones and create custom ring setups. Depending on the caller, GrandCentral will ring my cell phone, my wife’s cell phone, my office phone, or all my linked phones!

Concerning privacy and security, my favorite feature of GrandCentral is the ability to simply mark a caller as spam (just like an e-mail inbox), and never hear from them again! Telemarketer or ex-boyfriend/girlfriend harassing you? Hit the spam button by their number and kiss them good-bye!

GrandCentral is currently in private beta, but you can go ahead and reserve a number.

7. Don’t be an Idiot.

(Difficulty - ???)

My final point is that none of these solutions are worth a pitcher of warm spit if you can’t protect yourself from… yourself. Use common sense. Question everything. As with phishing, most attempts to gather your personal information come in a masked form. Do you really think that e-mail full of typographical errors is truly from PayPal? Do you really think that nice prince from Nigeria wants to give you a million dollars? C’mon.

The last few years have witnessed the rise of the social network, and it concerns me how many people willingly (nay, eagerly!) give away practically all details of their private lives online. I think we’re only starting to see the far-reaching implications of such actions. And no, I’m not just talking about posting drunk party pictures of yourself on Facebook for the world to see and then wondering why you got fired. I’m talking about a widespread increase in identity theft directly related to the hapless vomiting of personal information online.

Remember that just because you pass through a login into your preferred social network, it doesn’t mean that any information you post about yourself is safe and secure. Yes, there are unscrupulous people out there who will stop at nothing to harvest your identity for malicious purposes. Flies are attracted to the dung heap, so to speak.

Just be careful. In the last few months I’ve seen a drastic increase in Facebook spam due to people with hijacked user accounts. It’s annoying, disturbing, and disgusting. Don’t let it happen to you.

This is by no means a thorough list. Do you have any other ideas on how to protect yourself online? I’d love to hear them.

Business, Management, Software
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