I Don’t Understand Why Gift Cards Are So Bad

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Shh… I’ve already opened up some of my Christmas gifts. Wait, what is this? A gift card? Nooo!!! Evil!

It’s trendy to bag on gift cards right now. Liz Pulliam Weston says gift cards are not gifts and complains that “holidays have rapidly devolved into what amounts to an exchange of cash. A gift card says nothing about the personality of the recipient — but it says lots about the giver.”. Miss Manners is quoted as saying they are “a pathetic compromise convenient to people who do not trust their judgment about selecting the right present for those whose tastes they ought to know.” Consumer Reports even took out a full-page ad in the New York Times with the following message:

altext

Umm… So? How many *gifts* go sitting unused every year?! How many sweaters, handmade widgets, DVDs, scented candles, or whatever sit in your house right now, collecting dust in a closet. How about just saying “Last year, shoppers like you were out $80 billion because of unused, lost, or inappropriate gifts. Easy money for retailers…”

Truth is, converting cash into gifts of any kind creates the potential for waste. If you don’t want that, either (1) don’t buy gifts at all or (2) give cash.

I agree with Mighty Bargain Hunter when he says that gift cards are gifts. And like any gift, it can be good or bad. You know what happens when I receive a gift? I say thank you, and do what I can with it. Even if it’s hideous or not useful to me. I have mine all stored in baseball card sleeves ready to go.

Idea for gift card compromise?
First, pick something (doesn’t have to be perfect) that is in the price range you want. Then figure out the exact price, including sales tax. Buy a gift card in that amount, and attach a card with an explanation. “I thought you might like Rayman Raving Rabbits 2 for the Wii. Here’s a gift card for $54.86 from Best Buy”. There, you put a little thought into it, but they can use it to buy anything without having to “reject” and return your actual gift.

Also, for the curious, I even investigated which gift cards have the highest resale value. The result was that Amazon gift certificates are the most versatile.

What’s so bad about giving cash, anyhow?
Newsflash: In many cultures and households, giving cash is perfectly acceptable and in many cases even preferred. What are we pretending? That gifts don’t cost money?! I give cash gifts all the time. For more formal gifts I go to the bank and request crisp $20 or $100 bills.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Review of Suze Orman Show CNBC Special: Your Money Your Life

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

CNBC had a special Suze Orman Show last week, and I finally got a chance to watch it on TiVo. Recently, I’ve kind of lightened up on my view of Suze. Like all gurus, she makes blanket statements that may not apply to everyone, but at least she’s not pumping a get-rich-quick scheme involving real estate or stock-picking that is bound to produce more losers than winners. Overall, the show was pretty good for what was basically an hour of sound-bite-based financial advice for people (like me) with short attention spans.

Main Points
Here are her “action points”, which again seem to be generally good advice:

  • Get rid of credit card debt as soon as possible.
  • Keep your credit score high.
  • Save up an 8-month emergency fund.
  • You should have a 20% down payment for a house before buying one to live in.
  • Contribute up to your 401k/403b employer match, then fund a Roth IRA.
  • Create both a will and a living revocable trust.
  • Get adequate life insurance (term only).

I picked up two pointers that I need to research further involving estate planning. First, she stated that you can pass real estate without probate through a living revocable trust. This can save months of hassle and also can avoids court fees and lawyer fees which can eat up thousands of dollars. Second, you should always check your 401k beneficiaries, as whatever you designate on those forms actually trumps your will.

Motivational Story
There was also the oldie-but-goodie why-save-early explanation. Allow me to paraphrase:

If you saved $100 every month starting at age 25, and invested it with normal market returns, at age 65 you would have a million dollars! But you say, I’m 25, who cares? If I wait until 35, that’s only $12,000 I’m not investing. ($100 x 12 months x 10 years)

However, if you indeed started at age 35 saving $100 per month, at age 65 you would only have $300,000. That decade of waiting actually lost you $700,000!!

Of course my question was – what’s “normal market returns”. Doing the backwards math, it’s about 12.08% annualized. Very optimistic, but hey, inflated numbers make the story better. 🙂 It’s still a good lesson.

Don’t Buy Bond Funds?
Finally, a curious quote from her was that she hates bond mutual funds, and that people should only buy individual bonds. I thought to myself – how many casual investors actually buy individual bonds? Dealing with all the intricacies like call risk, par value, and quality ratings would be way too complicated for her target audience. However, digging a little deeper into her older show transcripts, I see that she actually recommends buying US Treasury Bills or Notes with a maturity of less than 5-7 years. Since these are of the highest quality and are relatively uniform, that definitely made more sense… but she didn’t explain this on the show!

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Weekend Reading: From Taco Bell to Mortgages

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Hazzard points out the story of a Taco Bell employee fired after 30 years of service, including two robberies and being shot once. Seems a bit like ageism to me. I see very little loyalty to companies these days… I wonder why?

Madame X explores if there is any connection between the amount you spend on food and obesity. Apparently at least one of her readers thinks spending $800 a month of food can’t be healthy.

Sun investigates some international dividend ETFs. Seems like ETF offerings are growing exponentially these days, I can’t even keep up.

Joseph Sangl made a graphical way to track his mortgage payoff process. Looks like so far he owns either his garage or living room. That’s one more room than me!

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Weekend Roundup: Open Portfolios, New ETFs, Old Jobs, and More

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

As I catch up on my feed reader, here are some posts from other bloggers that I found interesting:

The Digerati Lifeshares her latest portfolio update. I love open portfolios, I don’t know why.

Lazy Man has left his job, and his wife explains why that’s okay. I left my job about 2 years ago to go back to school and switch specialties, and my wife was very supportive, which made all the difference in the world. Best decision ever. You gotta be able to chase your dreams, even if you’re married!

IndexFundFan noted the arrival of an Emerging Markets Small Value ETF. Holy non-correlated-asset-classes, Batman! I like having more competition and choices, but I don’t think I’ll partake of this one. I wonder what the tracking error on this thing will be.

Get Rich Slowly states that a credit card is not an emergency fund… but then shares a story where it was ;). It was in a small business setting, though – should that make a difference?

CFO tried Dream Dinners, where you make your own take-out for a week. She liked it the first time, but not the second time. I still get a steady stream of comments on my old Dream Dinners post, although I must admit I never cleared out enough space in the freezer to actually try it ourselves.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Yodlee, Bank Of America MyPortfolio Updates

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

While getting the numbers for my monthly net worth update, I noticed that Yodlee has added a number of new accounts to their aggregation list. Specifically, I use the licensed version at Bank of America called MyPortfolio. So if you haven’t checked in a while, you might be pleasantly surprised – I think they actually cover all my accounts now. Here are a few sites that I just added, along with some info on why I have an account with them:

Zecco Broker Review, free stock trades!
TradeKing Broker Review, award-winning broker, $4.95 trades
FNBO Direct Review, new online bank with 0.65% APY Promo
Bridgeway Mutual Funds Info, I hold the BRSIX micro-cap mutual fund

See here for more on Yodlee and why I use it.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Financial Festivals and Carnivals

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Here are some happenings from the blog festivals and carnivals that I’ve participated in recently:

The Carnival of Personal Finance included our Roth or Traditional 401k decision process.

My pick from this Carnival was the sarcastic Ah… The Joys of Home Ownership by Grad Money Matters. He talks about how the accessories for a microwave can cost as much as the microwave itself! I found this timely as we were looking at washing machines the other day, the optional pedestals they come with cost upwards of $200! Is it me, or are these things just empty metal boxes. You could buy a entire new washing machine for around $250.

The Festival of Frugality at FILAM Personal Finance included my MagicJack Phone Review.

Here I liked the Is This Frugal? .. Or Just Not Quite Right? by Money, Matter, and More Musings. While I don’t hoard ketchup packets, I’ll admit that I do grab a few extra salt packets when on one of my rare fast food visits if they are the “dual cylinder” type. You know the ones… the salt is finer than usual, and I keep them around to put on microwave popcorn. Once I get two or three, I stop collecting them. Whew! It felt good to get that off my chest.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


What Do You Want To Read About?

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

I’d like to know what topics that you’d like to read about here. Got a burning question in mind? Simply leave a comment below. Keep in mind, the more specific the better.

As usual, I can’t make any promises, but I will take each suggestion into consideration. Thanks!

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Financial Festivals and Carnivals

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Here are some blog festivals and carnivals I participated in recently:

The Carnival of Personal Finance included my profit calculation tool for making money from credit cards.

My pick from this Carnival was Top 10 Wealth Building Ways Of Ordinary People by Digerati Life. The post covered a lot of ground and reminded me of the many different comments from real people on my post exploring who’s earning six figure salaries.

The Festival of Frugality included my post on how we pre-plan our food shopping at Costco.

Here I liked the review of Restaurant.com savings certificates by Living Almost Large that basically mirror my feelings on the subject. 95% of the restaurants on this list are either overpriced, serve mediocre food, or both. Coupons at restaurants are usually not a good sign.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Deadline For Transferring 403(b) Plans Approaching

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

I’ve been reading up more on 403(b) plans since my wife is getting one. Although similar to a 401(k) in many ways, there are some important differences. Did you know that if you are unhappy with your administrator, you may be able to transfer it to another provider without changing jobs? This is called a 90-24 transfer. The catch is that the plan must allow for such transfers.

But you’ll have to act quickly, as the Financial Page blog reminds me that the deadline for a 90-24 transfer is coming up on September 24, 2007. (You can still move the plans if you change jobs.) Read more on the 403bWise page on 90-24 transfers, as the transfer can be somewhat tricky.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Weekly Money Carnivals

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Now that I’m getting a bit more settled, I’m making an effort to get back to being more active in the blogging community. Carnivals are a place where blogs get together and share posts pertaining to a specific topic. Here are a few that I participated in recently -join me in perusing them and sharing what you found especially helpful.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Did I Refer You To Sprint SERO or Scottrade?

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Whenever I participate in a referral program, although it also benefits me, I am always thankful for the readers who let me refer them. So when I run out of referrals, I try to “spread the love” by directing future requests to those that allowed me to refer them initially. I have been doing this informally up until now, but I want to set up a more direct and systematic way to do this over the weekend.

Here are two programs that I can’t provide referrals for anymore. If I referred you to these referrals initially, and you are willing to release the needed information in order to fill future requests, please let me know and I will add you to the rotation. If I don’t get enough response, I will open it up to all readers. Please don’t ask for referrals in the comments, e-mail me instead. Thanks!

Sprint Referral Program – For new accounts, allows both referrer and referred Sprint wireless customers to both earn $25. I will need to share your Sprint wireless phone number.
Scottrade Referral Program – For new accounts, allows both referrer and referred to earn 3 free stock trades. I will need your full name and e-mail address, and preferably the address of your local Scottrade office.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Updated About Me, Net Worth, and Advertising Pages

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

I have been neglecting some of the supporting pages on this blog, so I spent some time tonight freshening them up:

  • Updated my About Me page to include more current and descriptive information.
  • Simplified the site’s Advertising options, and changed to an easier payment system which requires less maintenance.
  • Updated the links and graphs in my Net Worth history section.
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.