How to Get Rid of Your Unwanted Christmas Present (or How to Never Pay Full Price Again)

You know you're going to get at least one for Christmas this year. They're the easiest gift to give and consumers will buy $17 BILLION of them this holiday season. They are gift cards and they're big business. The problem with gift cards, however, is that there's some likelihood that you're going to get one to a place that you rarely go (at best) or you absolutely hate (at worst). Remember that year that Aunt Edna gave you the gift card to the Chinese Buffet with the C sanitation rating? That's the problem with gift cards. Fortunately, you're in luck! Three new sites offer consumers the chance to buy, sell, and trade gift cards. Trade that Chinese Buffet card for a Home Depot card or sell it to someone with an indiscriminating pallet that doesn't mind getting salmonella.

CardAvenue.com requires that gift card owners include the toll-free number for their card and that sellers check the balance before offering it to others. CardAvenue charges a 6.25 % fee from the seller and a 50-cent closing fee only if a sale or trade is completed. If the card doesn't attract a new owner, the seller isn't out any money.

Swapagift.com charges a $4 flat fee to list a gift card for sale or swap. If you just want to get rid of a card, they will also pay you 70% of face value and then resell it themselves.

PlasticJungle.com charges a 10% commission fee to sellers for every gift card sale. They also buy gift cards and pay anywhere from 55% to 65% of face value, depending on which retailer the card comes from.



So...now you know how to dump those unwanted Christmas presents. But what does this have to do with never paying full price again? Well, if you think about it, almost every store known to mankind offers gift cards. If you could go to one of these three sites and buy a gift card for Target or Wal-Mart and get it for 10% off, why wouldn't you do that? You know you'll use it up over time and it's instant savings. It's like going with a % off coupon everytime you go shopping. If you really wanted to get fancy, you could buy a gift card on one of these sites, shop online using one of the rebate sites I've discussed, and apply an online coupon that you can get from one of the coupon sites I've discussed. You could be looking at 30% off every time you shop. Now that's a good deal. Check it out!

NBA Guessing Game - Here's the Answer

While Scott's guess of people who have never been in his kitchen is, technically, accurate, the significance of the guys in the picture are that they are the last remaining players from the old Charlotte Hornets. All others have retired. When these guys end their careers, there will literally be no trace of this franchise remaining - the building they played in has been torn down, the uniforms/colors have been changed, and there's a new team in Charlotte. 19 years ago they were brand new and the city was crazy for them and now all that remains is 7 guys. Sad.

(Incidentally, the 7 guys are: Alonzo Mourning, Ricky Davis, Baron Davis, Jamaal Magloire, Eddie Jones, Brad Miller, and Malik Rose)

NBA - Guessing Game

Here's a little guessing game for you. Does anybody know what the significance of the guys in this photo is?

Wanna See Something Scary?

If this doesn't freak you out, you're in the minority. I don't like even Googling my own name much less going to a site like one of the two below where it proves that there is far more information floating around out there about me than I want there to be. Check for yourself - if one of these two sites doesn't find you (and then subsequently display a ton of information about you - like your relatives, past roomates (?!), etc.) consider yourself lucky!

SITE 1
SITE 2

BlogRush - My New Widget

You may have noticed that I have a new widget in my right hand navigation bar. I'm talking about the little reddish box that says "From the Blogosphere". It's replaced the pictures of Bailey. I did that for a couple of reasons. One - this little box is supposed to serve up targeted content that might be of interest to readers of this blog. Two - it, theoretically, publishes some of my postings in a little box displayed on somebody elses website, thereby sending more people to my blog (so far - 1 additional visitor!). Third - I realized that I'm probably starting to get readers that have no idea who Bailey is so I figured posts/content about interesting topics might be more interesting than pictures of a baby in a bee suit.

So - if you were wondering what that thingy is - that's the answer. If you have your own blog, you can try it out too. Go HERE.

Healthcare - Are We Getting What We're Paying For?

I recently went through my company's annual benefits enrollment process and, much to my chagrin, was blasted with another sizable increase in my healthcare costs. Every year the costs of health insurance, my out of pocket deductables, my prescription deductables, etc. keep going up and it's starting to really get under my skin. This past year, in addition to having a baby, we've had a couple of hard to diagnose conditions in my family and the care we've gotten on some of the issues has been, to be frank, marginal at best. I'm starting to wonder if we're getting what we pay for here?

I've read varying reports on how much health care costs are rising, but the general consensus seems to be that they're rising about 3 times faster than inflation. Given that most of us get raises that, at best, are double the rate of inflation, we're looking at more and more of our money going towards health care in the future. That's problematic. Here's what's more problematic to me: According to the World Health Care Organization's latest quality rankings, we're paying huge prices for, get this, the 37th best health care in the world. We're sitting behind countries like Oman, Colombia, Cyprus, Morocco, Dominica, and Costa Rica. Seriously.

That brings me to the concept that's starting to pop-up more and more in the news - Medical Tourism. If these countries that I just mentioned have BETTER health care systems than we do, would you be willing to travel to one of them to have surgery? What if, by going to another country, you could cut your costs by 75%? Currently, this probably only makes sense for elective type surgeries/procedures that your insurance doesn't cover. But - given that it seems like insurance is getting more and more restrictive, we might be looking at a future that defines more and more procedures as elective. Consider these costs:

Carpal Tunnel Surgery (both hands) - Avg. US Cost = $20,000, Avg. Colombian Cost = $2,000
Hip Replacement - Avg. US Cost = $45,000, Avg. Colombian Cost = $8,000

This isn't chump change and this is only a sample from one country. A lot depends on what our currency is doing against the other country's currency - but the dollar's not going to fluctuate enough to make up this kind of cost difference. Something to consider as we head into election season - does anybody have a plan that's going to improve our quality of care without breaking the bank in the process?!

2650 Delta SkyMiles for $14.00

If you collect Delta SkyMiles, there's a promotion running right now at 1800Flowers.com that gives you the opportunity to earn 188 miles per dollar spent - a fantastic rate.

Here's how you get the miles:

1. Go to MrRebates.com (one of the shopping referral sites I've referred to in the past) and sign up. They are offering a $10.00 bonus for new members!

2. After you've joined the site, do a search for 1800Flowers.com. MrRebates.com offers a great rate of 12% back from 1800Flowers!

3. Click through to 1800Flowers.com.

4. On the 1800Flowers.com site, search for 'Celebrations Book'. This is the cheapest item on the site that I could find (15.95 + 9.99 shipping). Add this item to your cart.

5. Enter all the shipping and billing information. On the checkout screen, in the 'Promotion Code' field, enter DL8. This is a Delta promotion that gives you 10 miles per dollar spent plus a flat 2500 miles per order.

6. Get the miles and the Celebrations Book. I guess you can consider the book a bonus!

Here's how the deal works out:
Book - $15.95
Shipping - $9.99
Subtotal - $25.94

MrRebates.com sign-up bonus: $10.00
12% rebate (on $15.95 - they don't give the rebate on shipping charges): $1.91

Total Final Cost: $14.03

At 188 miles per dollar, that's a great deal. You're hard pressed to find an offer of 10 or 20 miles per dollar - much less 188! The offer runs through 12/15. Enjoy!

Basketball Stars - Where Are They Now?

I was recently reading some basketball recruiting information when I came upon something that I thought was pretty absurd. This site ranks the top prospects in the greater Kentucky area. That's pretty cool - except that it goes down to the class of 2013. The site is ranking 4'7" sixth graders?! Dear Lord. We can now explain what is wrong with amateur athletics (and, more specifically, amateur athletes!).

Seeing this did bring to mind one of my favorite Sports Illustrated issues from my childhood. In the 1986-1987 College Basketball Preview issue, SI ranked the top players in the nation from 6th grade up to 12th grade. I was an 8th grader at the time and remember being irritated that I had not made the list (or even been considered). Given that I'm the same height now as I was then and was probably a better player then - they were correct in not considering me. Here's how the rest of those guys ended up:

12th Grade - Marcus Liberty - Liberty went on to play at the University of Illinois and was a key player on their 1988-1989 Final Four Team. He left Illinois after his junior year and spent 4 years in the NBA - primarily with the Denver Nuggets. By the time he was 25 years old, he was out of the NBA - relegated to playing in exotic locales like Turkey and Sweden. Today, he's 38 years old and plays for the Chicago Rockstars of the ABA (think MINOR league basketball).

11th Grade - Alonzo Mourning - Mourning has had a long, successful career in the NBA. After being named an All-American at Georgetown, Mourning was the 2nd overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets. He has since played for the Miami Heat and the New Jersey Nets. He is a seven time NBA All-Star, two time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and was a key player on Miami's 2006 NBA Championship team. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Mourning - he's done it all with one kidney since having a kidney transplant in 2003.

10th Grade - Kenny Anderson - Anderson was a three time Parade All-American, McDonald's All American, and Gatorade National Player of the year during his senior year in high school. He went on to Georgia Tech, perhaps the nation's greatest academic and athletic institution (seriously), and entered the NBA after his sophomore season. He was the second overall pick in the 1991 NBA draft by the New Jersey Nets and went on to play 14 years in the NBA, last seen with the LA Clippers in 2005. Today Kenny Anderson is the head coach of the CBA's Atlanta Krunk (seriously).

9th Grade - Damon Bailey - Damon Bailey was a four-time all-state basketball player in basketball-crazy Indiana. He led his high school to a state championship during his senior year in front of 41,000 fans in the Hoosier Dome! Bailey played four years at Indiana for coach Bobby Knight and was third team All-American and first team all-Big Ten during his senior year. He played one year in the NBA for the Indiana Pacers and then went on to play several more years in the old CBA (think AAA baseball). He retired as a player and went on to coach his high school, Bedford North Lawrence, before resigning earlier this year. Today he's in the industrial supply business.

8th Grade - Barnabas James - the guy who beat me out for this honor was last heard from in 1991. That year he was recruited by Coach Tim Floyd (now at Southern California) to play at the University of New Orleans but failed to qualify academically. He was last seen playing for Delgado Community College.

7th Grade - Brian Crow - I could not find much about this guy at all. He was from Orem, Utah and the rumors I heard were that he went on to become a successful decathalete later in his high school years.

6th Grade - Michael Irvin - Chicago area player that went on to become "an average high school player" for Christ the King in Chicago.

So...if you remember that issue of Sports Illustrated, now you know what happened to those guys. If you don't remember it, you can at least see the folly of ranking players in the 6th grade!

Get Paid to Get Organized!

Clutter and disorganization are problems that many of us face. My wife is a great organizer and we still struggle with our clutter from time to time. She showed me a clip recently of an Oprah show that she recorded about compulsive hoarders (think clutter to the extreme). These people had 75 TONS of clutter/garbage in a 3,000 square foot home. It was unreal (and unhealthy - tons of black mold/mildew - disgusting). I doubt that many of the readers of this blog are hoarders - but many of us are probably not as organized as we'd like to be or as we could/should be. What you may not realize, however, is that disorganization is probably costing you money. Here's how:

Opportunity Cost - We've all heard the saying that time is money and in many ways that's true. When viewed through that lens, every time you spend time searching for something that you can't put a finger on, you're costing yourself money (not to mention the energy spent and frustration from not being able to find something that you KNOW is there).

Bad Purchases - How many times have you marvelled at what you were throwing away when you cleaned out your refrigerator? How many times have you had to run out to a midnight store or pharmacy because you didn't have something you need? These events are avoidable events. All it takes is some planning and organization. Plan your menus ahead of time. Buy only what you need. Stock up on staples that you know you'll use over time. Don't buy something and get home to find that you already had it (even if you take it back, you're costing yourself time again!).

Financial Mistakes - If you don't have a pretty good organization system, I'm betting that you, at some point, have missed a bill payment and it ended up costing you money. If that hasn't happened to you, I bet you've made late payments on overdue movies/library books/etc. because you either forgot you had them or couldn't find them. Lack of organization can be a killer from a financial standpoint. There are rebate opportunities, price matching/beating terms that you could be taking advantage of, store credits that must be taken advantage of before they expire, overdraft fees that could be avoided, tax breaks that you could be taking advantage of - all kinds of things that require a bit of organization and planning and could be saving you money.

My personal opinion is that the biggest reason that people don't get organized and struggle with clutter is that it's a problem that tends to overwhelm. We simply can't figure out where to start. If that's you, there's help available!

If you really need help getting organized, the place to start is at NAPO.net. The National Association of Professional Organizers has a directory of organization experts that can come to you and work with you on, literally, getting your house in order. These people can help you create filing systems, figure out what to keep/get rid of, figure out financial strategies so that you can be organized in that area of your life, etc. They exist solely because organization is a problem for a lot of people - so don't be afraid to get some help!

Maybe you're not ready to hire a professional - or maybe your lack of organization has put you in a financial position which makes hiring a professional impossible. If that's the case, head over to Amazon.com and take a look at the books that are available on eliminating clutter and getting organized. This link will take you right to the listing: Books on clutter & organization

My point is this - getting organized improves your productivity, eliminates costly financial mistakes, frees you up to do more 'value-added' activities with your limited free time, etc. Who is going to pay you for getting organized? You're paying yourself! Now get started!!

Real Life Superheroes!

If you grew up as a "child of the 80's", it's pretty much a guarantee that the Superfriends were on your weekly "must watch" list. I was a huge fan. I especially liked Zan & Jayna and their space monkey Gleek.

I recently came across a site listing 10 real life superheroes. One of these guys can actually fly and another one has Aquaman's ability to summon fish telepathically. OK - I made that part up - but their talents are cool all the same. Video clips included!