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This post is going to cover the rest of the things that I spent money on for the week of 5/12-5/18. In the future I plan on having one post at the end of the week that goes over all of my purchases rather than multiple posts.

If you remember from my previous post, I had $96 left to spend for the rest of the week. Here is how the rest of my spending broke down:

• $2 for coffee
• $2 for a powerade at lunch
• $10 to park downtown
• $8 at Burgerville
• $14 for food and drinks with friends
• $6 for sunscreen
• $7 to share Chinese food for lunch
• $40 at Ross for some new work clothes
• $5 to wash my car

The total spending for this comes out to $94 dollars, so I beat my goal by $2! Right now I don’t care how much I beat my goal by, I just care that I beat my goal.

Here is the story behind my purchases:

For the weekend, my girlfriend and I were traveling to Portland, OR to visit some friends for the weekend. In order to get a head start on our drive down there, we decided to drive downtown and pay for parking ($10). Since she started an hour before me I had some time to kill so I bought a coffee ($2). It was really hot outside at lunch and I forgot to bring water so I went to Rite Aid and bought a Powerade ($2. Actually $1.09, but I don’t count change.) After work we drove down to Portland but got hungry along the three hour drive since we hadn’t eaten for lunch. We decided to stop at this fast food joint called Burgerville which was in this tiny town north of Vancouver, WA ($8). It actually wasn’t too bad. The next night we went out to dinner with our friends in Portland to this brew pub. I forget the name of it but they make some pretty good food. The beer wasn’t as memorable ($14). Before we left to go home we decided to do some tax free shopping in downtown Portland. I’ve decided to start wearing ties more often to work, so we decided to pick me out a couple of shirt/tie combos. I got two shirts and two ties ($40). For lunch we stopped at your typical Asian fast food place and got a two item combo to share ($7). On the way back we stopped at the Target at Jantzen Beach. The only thing I really needed was some sunscreen ($6). When I got home, I discovered that my car had gotten pretty dirty since the last time that I had washed it, so I decided to take it to the Brown Bear self wash. I always tend to miss a spot, but I don’t really trust the machines either. It looked good, but of course it rained the next day. It’s Seattle, go figure.

I had $2 left over from the week, but I also received $58 in repayment for utilities, so I actually had $60 in my wallet. I took out $60 from the ATM on Monday. It didn’t make sense to put $60 in just to take out $120. I’m actually not even sure if I can deposit money into the ATMs with the Money Pass symbol. I will try to find that out and report my findings.

Cash Management atm, cash, money management, moneypass, portland, Savings, spending

On Monday I began my trek into the all cash world. I must say that I have been doing well so far. I definitely feel a little bit more pain when I slide that cold hard cash across the counter than when I simply swiped my debit card. When you use your debit card you don’t see the money coming out, but with cash you definitely do. As you may remember, I decided to take out $120 each week. Whatever is left over I put back in.

Here is how I have fared.

• $1 for a banana for lunch.
• $16 for a haircut kit
• $7 for an extension cord

I feel good about these purchases because they were all justified.  I forgot to bring my banana to work for lunch, so I bought a replacement one. It actually cost me $.55, but I don’t consider coins to be money, so I just round up. I am going to keep all of my coin in a jar and then bring it into the counter every so often. I just need a jar. Right now it is sitting on my desk.

I think that the haircut kit was extremely justified. If you go to Hair Masters a cut will run you $15-$17 plus a few bucks for tip. Even after all that I am still not completely happy with it. It probably doesn’t help that I have a 50/50 chance of getting someone who uses English as their primary language. Maybe it is just me, but I find slight discomfort in not knowing whether or not my hairdresser actually knows what I want. Typically I just hope for the best. So the haircut kit cost the same amount that a haircut from a professional would have cost. The kit has already paid for itself! What a deal! I’m definitely not a pro, but it turned out only a half notch below what Hair Masters would have given me. Throw a little gel in there, and you won’t be able to tell the difference.

The extension cord was a necessary purchase because for some reason we do not have any outlets in the bathroom. I cut my hair in the bathroom, so I needed a place to plug the clippers in. The extension cord solved this problem nicely.

I’ve spent $24 so far so that leaves me with $96 for the weekend. The goal is to not spend it all. We shall see.

Cash Management cash, money management, Savings, spending

I recently decided that I need to adjust my money management strategy. As you may have read in my previous post, I was attempting to find a new institution that had more convenient access. Turns out though my bank has partnered with some other banks ton increase its’ ATM network. That works out nicely for me, because with my new strategy I will be using the ATM a little more often.

So here is my new money management plan:

• Each Monday I will take $120 out of the ATM (equates to $500/month).
• I will use only that money for my weekly expenditures.
• The left over money will be put back in on Monday, and an additional $120 will be taken out.
• All coin will be collected in a coin jar to be counted at a later date.

This new strategy should allow me to better manage my money, since I will be able to physically see what I have spent and what I have left. I have always found it a lot harder to spend with cash than with my debit or credit cards. I am going to make a few exceptions for things that I don’t spend cash on:

• Rent
• Cell Phone
• Utilities
• Gas
• Gym Dues
• Car Insurance

These items will either be paid by check or automatic transfer. This should theoretically work out for me. I will keep my current status posted each week. I plan on documenting what I spent each week and whether or not I met my goal.

I have always been an active saver, but it is always good to save a little extra. Each month I transfer $416 to my Roth IRA in order to maximize my yearly contribution. I haven’t been at my job long enough to qualify for their 401k program, but once I do I will switch my contributions to them in order to maximize my employer’s matching policy. I also transfer $50 per week into an online savings account. This allows me to save the money before I even see it. That way I am not tempted to spend it. So far it has worked well. I am just afraid that I am spending more than I have left over, which is why I have switched to this savings strategy.

I’d be interested to hear how anyone else who has tried this strategy has fared. All comments welcomed.

Currency, Personal Finance, Savings atm, cash, money management, moneypass, Savings, spending

According to a Wall Street Journal article written by David Enrich, bank fees continue to rise even thought the economy slumps.

Many large national banks have begun to raise their fees across the board in order to boost revenues. Banks make money through two different sources. The traditional way they make money is by lending out money at a higher rate than they are paying to have access to it. The second way is through various fees. When a large number of loans start to default, it makes it so that the banks have to rely more on fees to make up for the lost profit.

“Earlier this month, for example, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. started charging customers of other banks $3 nearly every time they use one of the bank’s 9,100 ATMs. Before that, the fee ranged from $1.50 to $2.” Assuming ATM use remains constant, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. can raise their ATM income by 50-100%. There are not a lot of investments out there that earn those kinds of returns. $3 to use their ATM may seem high, but if you consider the cost of tracking down your own ATM it may end up being quite the bargain.

If gas costs $3 per gallon and your vehicle gets 20 MPG, the most you would be willing to travel to avoid the fee is 20 miles round trip, or a 10 mile radius from your current location. If you consider how much your time is worth to you, you would be willing to travel far less. This is one reason why banks can get away with these relatively high fees.

While some consumers may wonder if J.P. Morgan’s fees are a bit excessive, J.P. Morgan has an alternate viewpoint. They claim that “ATMs are a convenience for its customers. ‘If you’re not a customer, you have to pay for that convenience.’” Others say that the higher fees give consumers incentives to join that particular institution. J.P. Morgan does not charge its customers to use their ATMs, so joining their company would be a good way to avoid those obnoxious fees.

How high can bank fees go? They can go as high as the market will bear. Once consumers start to say that enough is enough, then fees should start to level out, but in the meantime they will continue to rise to offset their loan losses.

If you don’t want to join these fee happy institutions, but still need the cash, there are ways around the fees. For example, don’t spend $3 on fees to take $20 out of the ATM. Withdrawal up to your daily maximum, and live off that money until it is gone. You could also use the money that you need and then redeposit it at your institution when you have used all that you need. If you take $20 at a time, it will cost you $15 per $100 taken out. This is like paying a 15% tax on your withdrawals. Another way out of the ATM fees is to get a debit card and make all of your purchases on debit. Transactions on debit cards are typically free, and the transaction will also show up on your monthly statement. With cash, if you forgot what happened to $60 of that $200 that you took out, you will have to rely on your own receipts to find out.

While ATM fees are here to stay, there are ways to get around them and save some money. Remember, if you did only one ATM transaction per month, it would cost you $156 in ATM fees over the course of a year assuming the ATM fees were $3 per transaction.

Financial Institutions, Personal Finance atm fees, banks, cash, debit card