Search results matching tag 'Bargaineering'

Money lessons from classic movies

Karen Datko — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:48:00 GMT

This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.

Movies today can rely on special effects, monster marketing efforts, and a few pretty faces (*cough* "Transformers 2" *cough*). In the 1980s and early '90s, movies had to rely on the story and the acting to achieve success.

Out of that era, which coincided with my childhood, came a lot of classic movies that teach powerful lessons about how to deal with your money, how to approach your career, and how to find success in both.

Bing: Top classic movies

I thought it would be fun to pick out five lessons from just five movies from that era (one of them is from 2000, but no fancy special effects there).

Be careful whom you trust. Rocky is one of the iconic film franchises of my generation and there is a powerful financial lesson to be learned in the fifth film. If you remember, it's in "Rocky V" that you learn of the health effects of fighting the Russian machine, Ivan Drago. You also learn of Rocky's financial woes when he discovers that Paulie, his wife Adrian's brother, signed over power of attorney to Rocky's accountant. The accountant then proceeds to lose all of Rocky's money flipping real estate.

The lesson here is that you have to be extremely careful whom you trust, especially when it comes to your money. As you acquire more money, you put it into the hands of mutual fund managers, financial advisers and other "experts." You have to carefully vet them and I believe you should never sign over power of attorney.

Fake it until you make it. In "The Secret of My Success," Michael J. Fox plays Brantley Foster, a laid-off financial analyst who sneaks into a new job as a mailroom clerk at his uncle's company. From there, he finds out that most of the executives are making terrible decisions and starts to fake being an executive. The movie is a classic and the iconic scenes include Fox changing from the casual wear of the clerk to the suit of the executive while in an elevator.

The lesson here is that sometimes you need to fake it until you make it. Some use the adage "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have." In the end, the message is the same: If you behave as if you belong somewhere, then you do. In the end, what's the difference between pretending and being? Nothing, really. (I don't advocate deception or lying though. I believe that crosses the line.)

All we need is the right opportunity. "Trading Places" is an awesome movie and one of my favorites. In "Trading Places," two commodity traders, Mortimer and Randolph Duke, decide to conduct a little social experiment. They want to know if the rich and successful are that way because they started rich and whether a common street criminal could achieve the same given the same starting point. So they take Eddie Murphy's character, street hustler Billy Ray Valentine, and have him swap places with Dan Aykroyd's character, a successful broker.

Life isn't fair, but sometimes two rich guys decide to make a bet and give you the keys to the kingdom to see what you'll do with them. The lesson here is that you should always be working hard, whether it's trading orange futures or street hustling, so that you can take advantage when an opportunity presents itself.

Keep emotions in check. "Bull Durham" is one of the most well-known baseball movies in history. It involves veteran catcher Crash Davis, played by Kevin Costner, and a powerful rookie pitcher named Nuke LaLoosh, played by Tim Robbins. Crash is brought to the minor league team to try to mold and shape the promising Nuke. In their first meeting, which is in a bar, they almost come to blows as Crash taunts the hot-tempered Nuke.

The lesson here is that you need to keep your emotions in check. Had Nuke struck Crash, he could've broken his hand, ended his minor league career, and never achieved the success he would get to enjoy later. With finances and your career, you need to keep a level head. When making stock investments, don't let your emotions make decisions for you.

Don't do anything illegal. "Boiler Room" isn't quite a classic movie but it does have a powerful lesson to tell. It follows the story of Seth Davis, a college dropout who is running an underground casino in his house. He eventually gets a job at a brokerage, where he's paid to get rich investors to buy into penny stocks his firm is pumping and dumping.

At first he doesn't realize how the scheme works and that what he's doing is illegal. He sees only the lavish lifestyles the more senior brokers are living. Eventually he realizes he's just scamming people of their hard-earned savings.

There are two lessons in this movie. The first is that you shouldn't let greed overcome your decision-making process. The allure of a hot penny stock is like the siren song of Peisinoe, Aglaope and Thelxiepeia; it can make you do some crazy things.

The second lesson is that you shouldn't ever do anything illegal.

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10 tips to a killer résumé

Karen Datko — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:34:00 GMT

This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.com.

A few years ago, when unemployment was low and the economy was rosy, all you needed to do to get a job was get your résumé in front of as many people as possible. You had to carpet bomb, stuff electronic résumé boxes, and simply wait. One of the companies you reached out to probably had a job opening and you probably were a pretty good fit.

Nowadays, the jobs are harder to find and companies aren't going to take a risk on a "pretty good fit." So, I compiled a list of 10 tips I've tried to use when crafting my résumé during a job search.

You are a salesperson now. Joe Sugarman is one of the most famous copywriters of all time and a mail order maven. I read one of his books about copywriting, and think that the best part about his tips is that they're simple -- your title should be designed to get the reader to read the first sentence. The first sentence should be designed to get the reader to read the second sentence. The second ... you get the idea.

Bing: More about Joe Sugarman

The goal of your résumé should be to get yourself an interview. You're not trying to land the job right away. You're trying to get your foot in the door, an interview on the schedule, and the opportunity to demonstrate you are fit for the job.

Tailor your résumé. Highlight the things that make you a great fit. If you are applying for a specific position and held a similar one at another company, make sure that's at the top of the list of work experience. In the job description, look for the keywords that pop out at you and make sure they are on your résumé.

If you possess skills that make you a good fit, put them at the front of the skills section and trim off any irrelevant listings. If you have relevant certifications, include them and do so in the order of importance to the job. You don't want to be a good fit; you want to be a perfect fit. It will result in some extra work but it's about quality, not quantity, now.

Be specific. When writing about your work experience, be as specific as possible. If you're unsure if the words you use are specific enough, use a thesaurus to see what the synonyms are. Are you comfortable with any of the synonyms in place of the word you chose? Did you use a vague word like "manage"? Did you manage a team or did you lead the team? Were you the team lead? Project lead? System architect? The more specific you are, the more accurate the picture.

Quantify everything you can. Anyone can say "I streamlined process XYZ," but if you streamlined a process and saved the company $500,000, write it down. If you brought a project in on time and under budget by 20%, explicitly say so. If you recently passed a certification test, include the date. The person reviewing the résumé is going to see a lot of résumés and will put more credence in one that actually states numbers that can be confirmed. No one wants to offer an interview to someone who passed a certification test five years ago and hasn't updated it since.

Demonstrate skill and knowledge. Anyone can say that they're experienced in something, but the only way to prove it on paper is to show that you used that skill or expertise in a job function. If you are skilled in "event planning," don't simply state it. Demonstrate it by listing something you planned. What's more effective: seeing "event planning" under a skills heading or having a job experience listing that says you planned a three-day conference with 1,000 attendees?

Sell benefits, not features. A classic bit of sales advice is to sell a product's benefits, not its features. Features are great, but if you can translate them into benefits, you are a far more appealing product. True story: My father had impeccable handwriting (feature) and was hired for a job because an administrative assistant didn't have to type up his notes (benefit). If you wanted to put that in a résumé bullet, it would look like this: Penmanship cut labor expenses by $5,000 annually by eliminating the need for a personal transcription service. It's a bit of a ridiculous example but I think you get what I mean.

Use lists, bullet points. Avoid large blocks of text whenever possible because people in a hurry simply won't read them. If you're discussing work experience, you don't want to write a narrative. You want bullet points listing your hallmark achievements and responsibilities in the job. If you write a narrative, there's a big risk that the reader will simply skip over it.

Project the right image. When someone looks at the entire résumé, it should project a certain image about who you are, what you've accomplished, and where you want to go. Whether it's your objective statement or the types of jobs you've chosen to list on the résumé, make sure it fits the image you want to present of yourself. Oh, and if your e-mail address is cutiegurlzzz19@hotmail.com, I recommend getting a new account with just your name.

Get it peer reviewed. Have someone, or several someones, review your résumé to make sure everything makes sense. When you work on a document for a long time, it's easy to overlook mistakes, and a fresh set of eyes can pick those out for you. They can also tell you if your résumé is specific enough, if you've quantified enough data, and whether you've embellished it a bit too much ... which leads us to the final tip.

Don't lie, embellish; be 100% truthful. You would think that this tip is unnecessary, but we all know we embellish sometimes. We saved the company $800 but we say $1,000; we led a 10-person team and we say a dozen. That's a mistake. Employers will verify the information on your résumé and they will pull offers if they find that you lied or otherwise embellished something. You may also find yourself way over your head, depending on how badly you exaggerated. The goal isn't to get any job, it's to get a job where you can succeed and build a career. You can't start a career with a lie.

Do you have a tip that has helped you out tremendously in a job hunt?

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4 common money mistakes

Karen Datko — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:26:00 GMT

This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.com.

One of the biggest challenges in almost anything you do is knowing where your blind spots are. In simpler terms, you don't know what you don't know.

So, today I'll point out four money mistakes you might be making that you don't even realize you're making. Hopefully, you're making none of them. If you are making one of these, don't beat yourself up over it. Now you know you're making it and you can take steps to fix it.

Paying too much tax too early. Would you give the government several hundred dollars a month, for no reason, just for the government to write you a check in April? Would you give the government a zero interest loan? Probably not (if you would, feel free to send me money). However, that's exactly what you're doing when you get a tax refund in April.

Optimize your withholding and adjust it so that you get a very little refund in April. I wouldn't be too aggressive about it -- owing taxes isn't fun -- but adjust it a little so that you keep the money for your needs. You can save it and earn interest, or you can put it toward projects, products or services you've had your eye on. Either way, it's your money. You should keep it.

I listed this mistake first because it's a minor mistake, if one at all. Considering how low high-yield savings account interest rates are, the interest you would have earned by reducing your withholding is minimal. Couple that with the strategy of forced savings -- you can't spend what you don't have -- your withholding can be used as an advantage. You can read more about these ideas in my devil's advocate post on why you shouldn't adjust your withholding.

Overanalyzing things. Analysis paralysis. Paradox of choice. This little demon has many names but the end result is the same: You don't make a decision and it's costing you.

This problem often happens with 401(k) plans where there are dozens of fund options. Do you want a balanced fund? An index fund? What about emerging markets? What about blue chip? Small cap? Bonds? Treasuries?

What happens? You don't pick anything. You don't invest because you don't know what you should have, what amounts, etc.

My advice is to set a deadline for any of the decisions you need to make and stick with it. The reality is that it's better to have made a decision, especially when it concerns investing or saving, than to put it off. Every single day you delay is a day of interest you could be earning. Need some ideas for investing? Consider a lazy portfolio. Not sure where to open a Roth IRA? Check out these discount brokers offering cheap stock trades. Just pick one.

Maintaining too high a checking account balance. This isn't a killer money mistake but one that many people make. If you know how much you're spending each month, you should try to maintain as low a checking account balance as you can and save the difference in a higher yield savings account.

How do you check this? One way is to budget so you know how much you spend. Another way is to look at your daily balance and see how low it gets. If your balance hasn't gone under $5,000 in the last few months, you might want to take at least half of that and put it in a savings account. Savings account rates aren't phenomenal but they're better than getting nothing.

Overpaying for index funds. An index fund is a simple creature -- match the benchmark index. An S&P 500 index fund matches the holdings of the S&P 500. Easy as pie. The mistake here is that you might be overpaying for an otherwise simple product.

Two of the cheapest index funds, and we'll use the S&P 500 index as an example, are the Fidelity Spartan 500 Index Investor Fund and the Vanguard 500 Index Investor Fund. The Fidelity Spartan 500 has an expense ratio of 0.10% and the Vanguard 500 has an expense ratio of 0.18%, which is 80% higher.

If you have your holdings in the Vanguard 500, I'm not advocating you move your funds to Fidelity. However, if you are paying more than 0.18%, which is already an 80% premium over Fidelity, then you're definitely overpaying.

Is there a money mistake you recently discovered that I might be committing but don't know about? Let me know in the comments. We all need help finding our blind spots.

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Best Internet fax-to-e-mail options

Karen Datko — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:02:00 GMT

This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering:

I don't use a fax machine much and we don't own a fax machine at home, which might be surprising to know because I work from home all the time.

In fact, we're one of the growing number of homes that don't even have a land-line phone. We rely strictly on our cell phones. This means that even with a fax machine, we wouldn't be able to send or receive faxes.

Until now, we mitigated this by using the fax machine where my wife worked. Since she quit her job, we no longer have access to a convenient and free fax.

So what options do we have?

FedEx Office Print and Ship Center. Because I send and receive faxes very infrequently, I wanted to see what a la carte options there are. Kinko's, now FedEx Office, seemed like the best bet, so I called a local FedEx Office Print and Ship Center to find out their rates.

To send, they quoted me $2.49 for the first page and $1.49 for each additional page to long-distance numbers. To receive, they quoted $1.49 for the first page and 99 cents for each additional page.

Internet fax services. With the a la carte baseline, I looked at some Internet fax services to see how they compare. In general, they are subscriptions based on a sizable number of "free" faxes each month. If you exceed the included number of send and receive fax pages, then you'll pay per page. With all of these services, you receive faxes through e-mail and you send your documents online.

Here are some of the options I found:

FaxZero is an ad-supported fax service that lets you send faxes for free. With their free fax package, you can send three pages max, twice a day, as long as you're OK with an advertisement on the cover page. They also have a pay version, $1.99 per fax with a maximum of 15 pages. I don't know what kind of ads they run or the quality of the service.
MyFax has three levels of service. You can get a 30-day trial of their cheapest plan. Here are their options:

Best Value: $10 per month or $110 per year, to send 100 pages a month and receive 200.
Most Popular: $20 per month to send 200 pages and receive 200.
Fax More: $40 per month to send 400 pages and receive 400.

EFax is another popular fax-to-e-mail service that is slightly more expensive than MyFax. They too offer a 30-day trial, and they offer an impressive suite of tools. Here are their service plans:

EFax Plus: $16.95 per month or $169.56 a year, with a $10 setup fee, to send 30 pages a month and receive 130.
EFax Pro: $19.95 per month or $220.08 a year, with a $19.95 setup fee, to send 200 pages and receive 200.

Did we miss any options we should consider?

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Fixing credit report errors

Karen Datko — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:39:00 GMT

This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.

A few years ago I had a little credit report error incident. I had just started a new job and was going through a background investigation, which included a review of my credit history. In the course of that review, the investigator noticed that there was an address listed on the report that I hadn't previously disclosed.

The reason I never mentioned the address is because it wasn't mine.

When he told me, I feared the worst. I thought I was joining the millions of people who have their identity stolen each year. In fact, just a year before that, a friend was telling me how it took him several months to get his identity recovered and even then everything credit-related was a pain.

So my mind immediately jumped to ID theft.

Fortunately, it was an isolated, albeit strange, credit report error that was relatively easy to resolve. The error was the addition of an address, a Social Security number (that differed from my SSN by one digit), and a telephone/cable package. I went through the usual protocols of disputing the information, thinking the onus was on the other party to prove the information was true. But I was wrong.

If you want a copy of your credit report, you can request one from each of the three credit bureaus every 12 months by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com. It is the only place where you can get a no-strings-attached free copy of your report from each bureau. No credit score is provided. For that you'll need to use free credit report offers.

Fixing personal information errors

Because the error dealt with personal information, I had to prove I never lived at that address. To prove I never lived there, I had to provide two bills, bank statements, or credit card statements showing an address for the preceding six months. To prove the telephone wasn't mine, I had to provide a bill for phone service with a permanent address matching the other documents.

It ended up being 50 pages worth of documents, and I had a grand time blacking out sensitive information and faxing that monster over to the credit bureau.

Finally, I had to fax a copy of my Social Security card to prove the other number wasn't mine.

It was a simple error to fix but one that should never have happened. I thought the SSN had to be unique to the credit report, but they're not. They usually are, except in rare cases where there is a data-entry error and somehow a second SSN gets added. I don't know what genius created the software that doesn't check for that, but I'm not surprised: Credit bureaus work for lenders, not borrowers. (Then again, as a lender, I'd never lend a penny to someone with two SSNs.)

Fixing account information errors

Account information errors are a little easier to fix because the onus is on the institution that reported the account in the first place. An example of an account information error is if they have someone else's account history listed on your report or a late payment listed when you never paid anything late.

If it's a minor error, I would just go with the bureaus' reporting mechanism to get it resolved. If it's a more serious matter, I recommend following the process outlined by Bob Sullivan at The Red Tape Chronicles. In the case of erroneous bankruptcies or other serious errors, it makes more sense to take a more rigorous, no-nonsense approach to fixing credit report errors. While the responsibility for proving the information is on the furnisher, that doesn't mean the bureau's going to spend all that much time trying to resolve it.

Fixing credit report errors is a necessary evil. I'm far more cautious and careful with my personal information after having gone through that experience. You can't protect yourself from everything and you do what you can, so it's important to know what you should do next if you find errors on your credit report.

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Your home is not an investment

Karen Datko — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:57:00 GMT

This devil's advocate post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.

A few years ago, when the housing market was sizzling hot, everyone and their mother talked about how their home was a fantastic investment. They talked about how a home that sold 10 years ago had quadrupled in value over the last five and cursed themselves for not buying more.

I knew someone who owned four rental properties, all bought with adjustable-rate mortgages, and was making a "killing" on the rents and appreciation. I knew someone else who was looking at his paper riches and marveling at how wonderful homeownership was.

Then the housing market stalled. ARMs reset. People were in rough shape. Those who overextended learned something the prudent have always understood: As much as your home is a great place, it's not an investment.

Value appreciates with inflation rate

There's a great analysis of home appreciation versus inflation that concludes that home prices don't appreciate faster than inflation. Michael Bluejay takes a look at historical data provided by the U.S. Census, the National Association of Realtors, and the Case-Schiller Index, so it's not a guess. It's based on hard data.

One big insight that I think many other analyses miss is the increase in the average size of a home. When you look strictly at census data, new homes increased in value an average of 5.4% a year, compared with 4.4% annual inflation over that same period (1963-2008). However, when you consider that the size of a home increased from 983 square feet to 2,349 square feet, you'll see that we're simply buying bigger houses.

An investment has to beat inflation, not match it, because otherwise you're taking a risk for no reason.

No improvement is profitable

Every year, Remodeling magazine does a survey on the best home value renovations. No matter which year you look at, there is never a remodeling job that ends up being profitable. In 2007 and 2008, the best home value renovation was adding a deck and that topped out at 85.4% and 81.8%, respectively.

So, as your home ages and needs major repair work, you're immediately taking a loss on that "investment." Our home was 25 years old when we bought it. In the last three years we've replaced all the windows and replaced the roof at a total cost of $12,000.

Carrying costs

When people talk about how they bought their house for X dollars and sold it for Y dollars, they rarely talk about the interest and property taxes they've paid. It's very exciting to hear about a home that has doubled or even tripled in value (or more!), but property taxes and interest are annual expenses that often get ignored when we're looking at the headline numbers.

Even when you account for the tax benefits, the costs can be substantial. The national average effective property tax rate (2000 census data) is 1.1127% and the national average value of a home is $158,934, so you can expect to pay $1,768 a year in property taxes. Slice off 25% for income taxes and it's still $1,326 a year. It's not an inconsequential amount to pay each and every year.

Transaction fees

If you want an investment, buy a stock. You can get into and out of a stock for free at Zecco, for $2.95 at OptionsHouse, and for $4.95 at TradeKing. Want to buy or sell a house? Be prepared to fork over 4% to 6% of the sales price as a commission to the real estate agents involved. Can you imagine paying 4% to 6% of each stock transaction? No one would ever do it.

Not only are the transaction fees high, the market is illiquid. Buying or selling a home can take a long time. With a stock, you can expect it to be gone within minutes in a marketplace that has many participants. You sold it at the best price possible the moment you sold it. With a home, you can't be sure. If you have only one buyer or you are the only buyer, you don't know if you have a good price because it was determined in an open marketplace.

Summary

There are many benefits to owning a home and I'm a huge fan of it, but don't justify buying a home by thinking a home is an investment. It's not.

It is, however, a place to live, a place to make your own, and a place to make yours. It's a place to put down roots, to raise a family, and to grow old in. It's a place to call your own, it's just not an investment. It's a home.

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Canceling a credit card

Karen Datko — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:59:00 GMT

This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.

Breaking up is hard to do, but canceling a credit card is easy. Call the company, tell them it's just not working out, then cut up the credit card. Easy, right?

What's a little harder? Understanding the impact that can have on your credit history and score.

Why canceling hurts your score

What impact can canceling a credit card have on your credit score? Canceling a credit card will, in a majority of cases, lower your credit score. The primary reason has to do with credit utilization, a significant factor in calculating your credit score.

Credit utilization is a ratio of the amount of debt you have divided by your total credit limit. If you have $500 in consumer debt and a credit limit of $10,000, then your credit utilization is 5%. Remember that consumer debt doesn't necessarily refer to the amount of credit card debt you carry over from month to month. It simply refers to the amount on your statement. So if you charge $500 each month and pay it off in full, your debt amount is still $500 (this is why you don't need to carry debt to improve your score).

When you cancel a card, your total credit limit immediately goes down, which will increase your credit utilization. A variety of other factors can contribute to your score going down, but credit utilization is generally accepted as the biggest reason your score might go down.

Why you should still cancel

The threat of your credit score going down shouldn't stop you from canceling a card if it makes sense to do so. If you've ever been rejected for a line of credit, you know that the potential creditor will mail you a letter with the reasons why you were rejected. In that letter is a list of credit bureau risk reason codes. Several of those codes refer to having "too many" accounts, whether they're revolving accounts, accounts with balances, or other credit-related accounts. If you have "too many" accounts, you may be rejected for credit.

Another good reason for canceling a card is that you never use it and you want to simplify your finances. It's difficult to juggle multiple credit card, bank, broker, and other financial accounts. There's no reason you should try to juggle a card you don't use anymore. Closing the account is one way of simplifying your financial life.

Alternatives to canceling

While I would cancel a card without regard to the credit score impacts, I recognize that it's not the most financially savvy decision. There are alternatives, though.

If you have multiple cards with an issuer, request that the cards be consolidated. Consolidating lines of credit will reduce the number of cards you have but not decrease your credit limit, which means your credit utilization won't increase, leaving your credit score virtually unchanged. Not all issuers offer this but it certainly pays to call to ask. The cards usually have to be of the same type, so you can't consolidate a personal credit card with a business credit card, and they must be from the same issuer, of course.

Can't consolidate? Just stick the credit card in your desk drawer. There's no direct financial harm in not using a credit card. There are two risks with this solution:

The card could be stolen. If someone breaks into your home and finds the card, he'll probably take it and try to use it. While it's probably a smaller risk than losing it as a matter of daily use, it's still a risk.
The issuer may cancel the card for inactivity. Companies have been canceling inactive and sometimes active cards for the last year as they reduce their risk exposure. If they do cancel it, it has the same effect as if you had canceled it.

Also, you can always cut up the card without calling to cancel. You still run the risk of the issuer canceling the card for inactivity but you don't have to worry about it being stolen. You do have to worry about forgetting you have the card in the first place, which can be mitigated by online account access, if you've set that up.

Finally, the best thing you can do to avoid this is not sign up for a credit card unless you're absolutely certain you need it.

Didn't think canceling a credit card could get this complicated, huh?

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Best hard-working reality shows

Karen Datko — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:26:00 GMT

This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.com.

I hate reality television shows that follow tragically complicated celebrities, or just straight up follow tragically complicated civilians, because they're exercises in schadenfreude. It's entertainment because you're reveling in the misery of others. "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here" is basically a farce built on the popularity of these types of shows.

I have nothing against the people on the shows or the people who watch them. I'm just not a fan.

But I do like reality television. In fact, I would say I love reality television, just not the real world/road rules type of reality show, but more like the dirty jobs variety. I think that a lot of jobs in America -- hard-working, back-breaking and hand-numbing jobs -- deserve a bit of the spotlight. So I'm going to list the best hard-working American reality television shows that I enjoy. This list is in no particular order.

"Deadliest Catch." This list would have absolutely no credibility if it didn't start with "Deadliest Catch" on the Discovery Channel. The show follows seven fishing boats through their fishing seasons, highlighted by the crab season. You truly get a taste of how dangerous the job is. You watch the crewmembers as they do their jobs, and the captain as he plots where he'll put the pots to get the highest yield, and you'll revel as they celebrate large catches and curse small ones.

I suspect that this show spawned this genre of TV, televising difficult and dangerous jobs for the merriment of people like me sitting on our comfortable couches. I know that after I watched this show, I understood why crab legs are as expensive as they are.

"Wrecked." This is my latest find, via Hulu, and I think this show is great. It's broadcast on the Speed channel and it follows O'Hare Towing, a truck and car service company that opened in 1963 and services the Chicagoland area. It's run by Bill and Marci Gratzianna, with both playing prominent roles in the television show.

One of the things you learn while watching this show is that towing is not only a physically demanding job, but a mentally demanding one. The drivers need to be experts in real-life physics. I don't mean the theoretical stuff they tried to teach you in a classroom. I mean real-life, "this-truck-slid-off-the-road-and-is-sideways-in-a-ditch-how-are-you-getting-it-out?" type of physics. They're amazingly creative in their solutions -- a product of years of experience and just straight-up smarts. The best example of this is Episode 5 of Season 2, "Slaying the Dragon."

Oh, and for those who don't think math is a big factor, near the 19:44 mark of Episode 5, the discussion they have shows that math is a factor. It's just quickly calculated in their heads.

"Ice Road Truckers." This show is about truck drivers on an especially treacherous stretch of road. In the newest season, they'll be going to Alaska, where they'll be shuttling cargo between Fairbanks, Coldfoot and Deadhorse (not a great name, don't you think?). Previous seasons followed truckers as they made runs in the Northwest Territories in Canada.

I never got as into this show as some of the others (as in I didn't DVR it) but whenever I saw it on TV, I was almost glued to it.

"Parking Wars." OK, that bit about not enjoying schadenfreude earlier? It might have been misplaced, because part of the appeal of "Parking Wars" is watching people's reactions to getting a ticket or a tow. The "victims" are almost always in the wrong, but the excuses they come up with are absolutely hilarious. "Parking Wars" follows four groups in the Philadelphia Parking Authority -- the officers who ticket offenders, the people who install boots on cars, the tow squad, and then the folks who run the impound lot.

The part I really enjoy about this program is the human psychology involved. I can't cite which episodes I saw this on, but on multiple occasions the show follows tow truck drivers as they search for cars they can tow. The drivers have favorite spots to check out when they're simply roaming, just like traffic police have their favorite streets to search for illegally parked cars.

"King of Cars." My wife loves this show. "King of Cars" on A&E is a reality TV show that follows "Chop," owner of Towbin Dodge near Las Vegas, and life in the car dealership. The appeal of "King of Cars" is that it shows the other side of the car dealership, the side we don't get to see when we walk into the showroom: the pressure to hit numbers on a daily basis, the hierarchy of salespeople, and what happens in the back offices.

What's your favorite hard-working TV show?

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Insider supermarket tricks

Karen Datko — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:39:00 GMT

This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.com.

The Economist is known for its deep analysis and heavy topics, but I found this article about supermarkets and the science of shopping.

The first time I heard about supermarket psychology was when someone explained to me that the most appealing products are always shown at eye level. When the product is placed at eye level, you are more prone to picking it up and subsequently buying it.

That's only the beginning.

If there's one lesson to be learned from reading this article, it's that supermarkets are a big maze and we're the rats running through them.

Psychology works

The article is based out of Basingstoke, England, but you'll find that the description of the Sainsbury's store layout is probably not unlike your local grocery store's layout. My local Giant grocery store is laid out in the same manner. Our "decompression zone" holds the store circular and hand scanners. Our "chill zone" has books and magazines and is set up right next to the pharmacy, presumably to keep you occupied if you're waiting for your prescription.

Then we have fruits and vegetables, just like Sainsbury's. Many of the staples, like meats and dairy, are located in the back after you walk through the aisles.

Traditionally retailers measure "footfall" -- the number of people entering a store -- but those numbers say nothing about where people go and how long they spend there. But nowadays, a ubiquitous piece of technology can fill the gap: the mobile phone. Path Intelligence, a British company working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, tracked people's phones at Gunwharf Quays, a large retail and leisure center in Portsmouth -- not by monitoring calls, but by plotting the positions of handsets as they transmit automatically to cellular networks. It found that when dwell time rose 1%, sales rose 1.3%.

Sneaky (creepy?) stuff, huh? Check out the article. It's well worth the read.

Back yet? Now that you've become aware of the psychology behind supermarkets, let's get down to the nitty-gritty with some tips that will help you win the war against those sneaky behavioral scientists and their mind games.

Supermarket tricks

Here are a few tips I've learned when scouring the interwebs and my own mind. These are tips designed to save you money and time when you're at the supermarket.

Make a list. Unless my wife and I are in the mood to wander around the supermarket (only because it's freezing outside), we make a list based on the sales so we can get in and out as quickly as possible. By making a list and sticking to it, we save ourselves tons of time wandering. We also can save money by using sales circulars to plan our week's meals based on the products on sale.
Don't go when you're hungry. This one is a common suggestion because it's pretty obvious. When you're hungry, everything looks good. Your desire to eat healthy goes out the window as you reach for a prepared meal that can be consumed after a two-minute trip inside the microwave merry-go-round.
Skip prepared foods. You can save a ton of money just by butchering the chicken yourself. This rule holds true for basically everything else. You want some pork chops? Consider buying an entire pork loin and cutting it yourself.
Make your own prepared foods. Nothing stops you from getting the raw ingredients and making your own microwavable meals.
Be brand agnostic. If all things are equal, go with what's cheaper. Generic products are usually as good as the brand-name products. Also, a sale on a brand-name product doesn't necessarily mean it's cheaper than the generic version.
Read these 13 things your grocer won't tell you. I'm a fan of these types of articles, so check Reader's Digest's "13 things your grocer won't tell you" (No. 2: Go ahead and reach back for the fresh milk, and No. 1: Shop at dinnertime to save time).

7 items to skip

This is a list of seven items from Yahoo Finance, as well as reasons why (with my own commentary) you should skip them on your trip to the grocery store. You'll notice a theme here too. A lot of it has to do with products that have added labor in them -- bagged salads, spice mixes, pasta sauce. You can make many of these things yourself with a little extra work -- work that can be a lot of fun.

Bagged salad. Convenient, but costs almost three times as much. Kits are even worse (and the dressing is usually horrible for you in terms of calories).
Energy or protein bars. They've replaced candy bars as the impulse buy of choice at the checkout. You can buy these much cheaper online.
Spice mixes. A lot have salt as the first ingredient, and you probably have most of the other spices in your cupboard already.
Bottled water. You're overpaying for what you can get out of the tap. It's one of the many items made more expensive by marketing.
Boxed rice entree or side-dish mixes. It's rice with a few other extras, and you're paying $3 to $4 a box for it, way too much.
Preformed meat patties. Buy the meat yourself and make your own patties. The premium you pay for a company forming them is not worth it. By forming them yourself, you can add your own spices and ingredients to make a tastier burger.
Tomato-based pasta sauces. Buy canned tomatoes for $1 and add in your own ingredients, instead of paying $2 to $6 for a jar of their stuff. Here are a few homemade tomato sauce recipes you can use.

Do you have any tips for the supermarket?

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Basics of online education

Karen Datko — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:17:00 GMT

This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.

If you go back 10 or 15 years, there were two things you could do online that would get you laughed at: finding a date and getting a postsecondary degree.

With dating sites flourishing and online education popping up everywhere, the stigma associated with the online versions of both has all but been washed away. Meeting someone online no longer means you're meeting someone capable only of interacting with a computer, and getting a degree online no longer means you took some cupcake classes and paid for a diploma.

However, just as you still want to be careful whom you choose to meet in person from an online dating site, you'll also have to be careful which online university you choose to attend. Like dates, not all universities are created equal.

Benefits

The main benefit of online education is flexibility. When I attended Johns Hopkins for my MBA, I had to drive half an hour each way and pay for parking just so I could sit in a classroom. Sure, I participated, but the vast majority of the time I listened to a lecture and then drove home. With online education, the flexibility of listening to courses when I wanted to would've been very appealing. Nothing replaces the classroom experience, but when the majority of your other part-time classmates are looking to learn a little, get a degree, and get out, the classroom experience is limited.

Plus, by taking it at my own pace, I free up an hour of my life that I can spend on something else.

While flexibility is probably the biggest benefit, a close second has to do with the speed of learning. A class always seems to progress at the speed of the slowest vocal student. This is bad for two reasons. First, if someone understands a concept quickly, he or she must wait. If someone doesn't understand a concept quickly but is shy about it, the class continues on without that person. Both students are done a disservice, and that's mostly avoided with online education.

The last big benefit has to do with cost. Online programs are often less expensive than traditional programs strictly from a tuition perspective. With a lower cost, students can avoid loans, which further drives down the cost of education. It's a lot like the idea of online banks and brick-and-mortar banks: Online banks don't have the overhead that traditional banks do and they are able to pass those savings on to consumers.

Drawbacks

As with anything else, there are pluses and minuses. Online education still suffers from a stigma because it's not "traditional." Some online universities are incorporating a classroom component, where you might have to attend a classroom session once a month, but some people still see online courses as "buying" your degree (which is still true with some institutions).

Another drawback of online education is that it's self-paced. Self-paced learning is a double-edged sword. Some students learn at their own speed, and others don't get the full value of the course because they're trying to cram it all in at the last moment. Understanding how you'll handle self-paced learning is important in understanding whether online education is for you.

We've briefly discussed the benefits and drawbacks of online education. Let's look at how you should choose an online education institution.

Accreditation

The easiest measure of a university is whether it's been accredited. Accreditation is a way to determine the quality of the education at a particular school. It's performed by private accreditation organizations, not the federal government. Fortunately, the Higher Education Act of 1965 requires the U.S. secretary of education to publish a list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies and a database of nationally accredited postsecondary institutions and programs.

It's important to note that not all accreditation is created equal, though all are recognized as equal by the federal government. It's generally accepted that regional accreditation is the highest level of accreditation a school can get. There are six regional accreditation organizations:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

You can also go to the Council on Higher Education Accreditation to find out more about the accreditation body that accredited the online university you're looking at. You can read more about educational accreditation at Wikipedia.

You do not have to be accredited to open a school and award degrees. That's a very important point to understand. A school may be authorized to operate and not be accredited, so you'll want to check its accreditation and which organization awarded it.

Why does accreditation matter? Some employers and other universities may not recognize degrees you've obtained or classes you've taken at non-accredited universities because they can't be sure of the quality of the education. By going to a non-accredited school, you run the risk that your degree or your classes aren't recognized, so why risk it?

How to pick the right online university

After reviewing accreditation, you'll want to start doing the same research you would for a traditional university:

Professors. Since you'll be learning from them, do a little bit of background research on the professors who will be teaching your courses. See what their degrees are in, what their experience is, and what you think they bring to the virtual classroom.
Cost. Online education is generally cheaper but it may not be, after you consider all the fees and charges they may add on (cost of software should be included in tuition).
Classroom size. It may seem kind of silly to look at classroom size when you aren't in a classroom, but this will give you a better idea of how stretched your professor may be. Remember that these professors will be reading your work and giving you feedback. If he or she has 50 students, then you won't get as good an experience as you would with a professor who needs to interact with only 20.
Software requirements. If the online university uses software that requires you to have a newer computer, you'll need to add that to the cost of attending.
Classroom attendance. Some universities will require you to regularly attend a classroom session, perhaps once a month or once every two weeks.

Free online courses

If you're not concerned about getting credit for classes or degrees but are instead focused on expanding your skill set, you might want to try taking free online courses from traditional universities. Many universities offer self-paced online courses that are absolutely free. Here are a few to get you started:

What are your thoughts on online education?

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