Website Recommendation: iStorez.com

If you've been stopping at this blog for a while, you've more than likely learned a bit about what I like and what I don't like. You know that I like saving money and finding deals and you also know that I don't like getting spam email. Today's site recommendation addresses both of those subjects!

IStorez.com is a new site that wants to help you save money and offer you a customized shopping experience. Have you ever bought anything online and then, in the weeks that follow, you start getting emails from the company advertising other specials, etc.? I absolutely hate that - so I usually unsubscribe once they start coming in. The problem is that those emails often contain special deals, coupons, etc. that you only know about if you read the newsletter/email/catalog (whatever they want to call the email they send you). IStorez takes care of that by cataloguing all of the email newsletter thingys that companies send out and displaying them on their site - so you don't have to get them in your email!

IStorez takes things a step further though. They allow you to create your own shopping profile and then they present you with just the stores you want to see. Think of walking through a mall where every store was one that you pre-selected ahead of time as one you are interested in. Then, think of having access to all the coupons, specials, 'insider info', etc. for each store. That's what this site does.

I think this site is really cool. It might not change the way I shop online because I'll probably still go through one of the rebate sites directly to the stores I'm interested in. It may, however, change the way I look for merchandise online. Check it out!

Zeitgeist - Fact or Fiction?

This may be old news to some of you. Apparently there was a movie released straight to YouTube back in July called 'Zeitgeist'. It's a 2 hour movie that makes a number of claims debunking Christianity, calling the events of 9/11 a conspiracy, and claiming that the international banking community will form the basis of a New World Order. I hadn't heard about it until my sister-in-law sent me a link to a 9 minute snippet of the film. This is that snippet:



When I got the email, I was asked my opinion on it - whether it was valid or not. My initial reaction after watching it is that this type of film is really not that much different than the type of stuff presented in 'The Davinci Code' or 'Angels & Demons'. Essentially the point (as I interpreted it) was to convince the viewer that Christianity is simply a derivation of other religions (nothing new in that claim - it's been around for years - and many of our traditions may well be just that) and that there is an international conspiracy going on to create a new world order/police state. I find that highly unlikely. This, to me, is repackaged garbage that's been floating around in different formats forever. Keep this fact in mind - this is a MOVIE - it's designed to cause stir/buzz/reaction. It certainly does that. But that does not mean it's factual. Call me a skeptic, but I think this is manipulation and fear mongering. That's just me - you judge for yourself!

Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Website Recommendation: JohnnyJet.com

There are tons of travel sites on the internet - Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, Priceline - you name it. As a matter of fact, sometimes I get a little confused trying to figure out which site has the best deals (they each have their own specially negotiated package deals by the way). It's simply a case of information overload!

The site I'm recommending today is not going to help you with that problem - it has a lot of information on it. What it is going to do, however, is something that none of the big travel sites do. JohnnyJet.com is a web portal (a site that contains links to other sites). Of course it links to all the big travel sites like the ones I just mentioned. But - and this is the cool part - it also links to almost every other type of travel site imaginable. That is something that the big sites just don't do.

This site contains links to literally every travel topic I could think of. Examples include travelling with pets, environmentally friendly hotels, packing lists for traveling with kids, where to find a gym in the city you're travelling to. You get my point. If you are planning a trip or need information on a destination, this is a site to check out. Enjoy!

Don't Look at Your Home as an Investment

Britney and I got married at her church in Arkansas and one of the pre-requisites for marrying at the church was attending a couple of marriage preparation workshops. At one of the workshops, a professor from the University of Arkansas came and discussed financial topics. One of the things that stood out to me most at the time was his insistance that a house should not be treated as an investment but, rather, should be viewed as an expense. I didn't understand that at the time - as I'd always heard that a house is one of the best investments you can make. After my year of heavy home-related costs in 2007 and seeing what's happening in the real estate market of late, however, I'm beginning to see his logic.

SmartMoney ran an article about this very subject back in 2002 and it does a far better job explaining why a home is an expense rather than an investment than I could do in a brief blog post. Take a minute to read the article.

The gist of it is that even with a nice appreciation rate, the costs associated with home ownership (closing costs, maintenance, taxes, insurance, broker fees, etc.) offset the benefits from tax breaks and appreciation. Home ownership does free you from the black hole of renting and can, if done correctly, allow you to free up some of your income (especially in the future when your mortgage payment on the loan you got years ago likely will look small compared to current market rates). That income can then be put into some wiser investment choices.

It's an interesting premise. Check it out.

Money Saving Tip: 5% Off On Almost Everything

How would you like to save 5% on almost every single thing you buy? It's now possible thanks to the Citi CashReturns card! This is one of the highest cash back offers I've seen and is definitely one you should look into.

Here's the catch - the 5% cash back offer is only good for 3 months. After the introductory period, the cash back rate drops to 1% - which is not as good as several other cards on the market (I'll post more on that later). Don't let that stop you from looking at this card though. Unlike many other cards, this card doesn't give the cash back on a limited set of categories - this thing pays out on EVERYTHING you buy on it. Given that we're entering into tax season, you can even pay your income tax with this credit card. Since it's winter, you're also likely to have higher energy and/or gas bills this time of year that can be paid on the credit card too!

I looked at the websites of all my major bills - cable, phone, power, and gas and all of them offer credit card bill payment. Some charge a convenience fee for the service - but none of those fees added up to more than 5% of the bill - so I'd still be making money even after paying the service charge. I've read reports of a number of people making upwards of $1000 in 3 months with this card. I suppose, if you wanted to get a little crazy, you could even try to 'trick the system' and make some extra cash by doing things like loading up on gift cards at your favorite retailers or paying estimated taxes and overpaying (you'd end up getting a tax refund and the 5%).

Take a look and give it some thought. With a little planning you could make a nice little sum to put into savings!

Show Your Support for Autism Speaks

Having a baby has definitely forced me to get informed about a lot of potential problems that children can have. One of the scariest and most significant problems children commonly face is autism.

Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically lasts throughout a person's lifetime. It is part of a group of disorders known as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Today, 1 in 150 individuals is diagnosed with autism, making it more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined. It occurs in all racial, ethnic, and social groups and is four times more likely to strike boys than girls. Autism impairs a person's ability to communicate and relate to others. It is also associated with rigid routines and repetitive behaviors, such as obsessively arranging objects or following very specific routines. Symptoms can range from very mild to quite severe.

There is something that each of us can do to help support autism. It's really easy, takes about 3 minutes and won't cost you a dime. John Ondrasik, lead singer of the pop group 'Five for Fighting', has pledged his support for autism by agreeing to give $0.49 cents each time a video is viewed at the AutismSpeaks.org site. This is a legitimate pledge. You can read about his pledge here and view the video HERE.

Do it today and help show your support for autism. Watch the video!

Bailey's First Birthday

We enjoyed celebrating Bailey's first birthday with family and a few friends over the weekend. Britney did a great job putting the party together and Bailey enjoyed all of the presents and attention. If you weren't in attendance, I offer the following short video clip for your enjoyment!

One Month Coupon Strategy

My wife just sent me a really interesting link to a posting over at The Simple Dollar. The post is about a new strategy for using coupons. Here is the LINK.

The basic premise is that coupons are issued by companies as the first step in a product push. After the coupon comes out, the company waits a few weeks and then puts the item on sale (to try and induce a repeat purchase) - the second step in the product push. Knowing this, your best strategy for using coupons is to simply pull the coupon section out of your Sunday paper and then sit on them for one month. In a month's time, clip the coupons that you're interested in and head to the stores. There's a high probability that the items that you have coupons for will now be on sale as the company is now in the second phase of the product push. Combining the store's sale price with your coupon can often mean walking out of the store with HUGE savings!

Great post and great idea. Read for yourself!

I Guess This Was To Be Expected

Given that I live in Charlotte (home of the NASCAR Hall of Fame), I guess I should have expected what took place last week. Our NBA team, the Charlotte Bobcats, had 'NASCAR Night'. Teams do promotional nights all the time and the Bobcats probably do more than most given the lack of attendance. I've got no problem with having a 'NASCAR night' or any other night that they want to have to get people excited. I don't even have a problem with them giving away Bobcats cars or having cars on display or whatever. I do, however, have a problem with the hideous checkered flag design they incorporated into their uniforms for the game.

I drove by the team store yesterday on the way home from work and they've got this disgusting design on display in the window of the store. Please - be a sensible person and do not buy anything related to this whole concept. We must ensure that this never, ever happens again!

Now THAT is a Sweet Tattoo

I'll admit it, I've got ink. My tattoo is small, discreet and totally sweet. It's starting to fade a little with age and the ink is starting to bleed together a little bit making it harder to discern exactly what the tattoo is - but it's totally awesome nonetheless. Over the years, I've considered getting additional tattoos. I figure that once you take that first step by getting one, what's another ten or twenty? Part of the problem, however, is deciding exactly what I would want to get done. Here are a couple of tattoos that I will NOT be getting:

Now don't get me wrong, I love corn dogs as much as the next guy. I also like Indians. I just don't like the combo of naked Indians and corn dogs. It's that simple. If this was a singular corn dog, it'd be under consideration. As it stands, however, this is off the list.

Why would anyone consider getting a tattoo of Clay Aiken looking like this?! Now - if you could get a tattoo of the new & improved Clay Aiken, that would be a sweet tattoo. This one though? No way. I may be interested in a Scott Savol tattoo however.

I'll bet the rest of the guys in the biker gang had a good laugh at this guy's expense. I can picture it now - you join a tough gang, they take you to the tattoo parlor to get the requisite ink job indicating that you're an official member, you sit in a chair for 8 hours wondering why the other guys are snickering, and you get up and see this finished product. I will NOT be that guy. I haven't decided yet what my next one will be if there is a next one - but these 3 tattoos are out of the running.

There are more bad tattoos that you can enjoy HERE. The article does make mention of several things one should never get tattooed - including (strangely enough) punctuation marks. Why is that strange? Because I happen to have a friend that reads this blog regularly that actually has a tattoo of punctuation marks!! Seriously! Ha! The joke's on him!