Author: Ben Popken

Here is another arrow in the quiver for your quest to resolve an impossible Verizon Wireless issue if normal avenues have failed, the a numba for a fella in Verizon Wireless Executive Relations:

Christopher Sproul
412-266-7760

You already know that coat hangers sound just as good as those pricey Monster cables, but this infographic really lays out the full argument on why you should never pay more than $10 for HDMI cables. Whether it’s gold-plated connectors, EM RF interefence shileding, or “gas injected” cables, it’s all the same thing: goldbricking. There’s no reason to drop $250 on a four-foot cable.

The Rip [MintLife via Lifehacker]

Got an issue with Victoria’s Secret that regular customer service can’t or won’t handle? Try escalating it to the top of the laundry heap with these email addresses for senior executives.

[email protected], Sharon Jester Turney (CEO/President of Victoria’s Secret)
[email protected], Leslie Wexner (CEO/Chairman of Limited Brands)
[email protected], Martyn Redgrave (Executive VP/Chief Administrative Officer of Limited Brands)
[email protected], Jane Ramsey (Executive VP Human Resources of Limited Brands)
[email protected], Laura Greeley (CFO of Victoria’s Secret)

With just a few hours work, you could unlock hundreds of dollars. It’s called a financial tuneup, and if you set aside some time to tackle some of those nagging to-dos, and wrassle with some customer service departments, you could end up with serious coin in your pocket. To get you started, NYT Your Money’s Ron Lieber has put together a killer interactive 31-point interactive checklist. He shows you how to save money, and how much money you can save.

Ron is turning the Financial Tuneup into an annual event. The panel discussion I was on last night, with investing rockstar Burton Malkiel and foxy Jean Chatzky from the Today show, was the kickoff. Here is some live tweeting from the event. The best advice was Burt’s advice about getting an index fund that invests in emerging markets, and his secret home-made popcorn recipe.

31 Steps to a Financial Tuneup [NYT]
Tweets from last night’s panel: #nytyourmoney
Take a Few Hours and Unlock Some Cash [NYT]

Disposable razor blades can cost $4 a pop and last only a few weeks, but Terry has been going for 20 months on the same cartridge. And yes, he still has a face. How does he do it?

When he notices his blade getting dull, he rubs it on his forearm in the non-cutting direction for about 10 strokes. This is all you need to keep the blade honed and sharp. You can also rub it against the heel of your palm.

Contrary to popular misconception, it’s not water or rust that dulls the blades, which are often stainless steel. It’s just the fine edges getting dulled on your face (or legs, or chest, whatever you like the shave).

I’m slightly skeptical but after seeing this and finding other corroborating comments online, I’m going to give it a shot.

Here are email addresses for GE Money Bank CEOs in case you have an intractable issue with them that needs resolving:

Officers: CEO – Colin Shave
[email protected]

Chairman – Jeffrey R. Immelt
[email protected]

CEO – Yoshiaki Fujimori
[email protected]

Join me tonight at 6:30 pm at 620 8th ave, 15th floor for a New York Times hosted panel on “Your Money: A Financial Tuneup.” The whole idea behind the “Financial Tuneup” is that once a year you should set aside 10 hours to just tackle every niggling item on your personal finance todo list. Here are some tips on doing that. RSVP for tonight’s event at financialtuneup.net.

Alicia Guastaferro, 18 year-old teen beauty queen, is pretty much crass consumerism made flesh, and the figurative lovechild of Disney and Forever 21. To support her beauty pageant lifestyle, her parents lavish her with $100,000 in clothes every year, do her homework for her, and keep up a Christmas tree year-round and give her a new present every day. But what happens when she goes on Wife Swap, and her new mom is a feminist Quaker preacher? Whoa! Explosions! Tears! Now Alicia is suing ABC for $100 million, contending they framed scenes to “maximize her public embarrassment.” Um, duh, that’s what reality TV is. Or did your parents also watch your television for you as well?

Notorious Reality TV ‘Brat’ Sues ABC for $100 Million [Popeater]

WIRED has a cool story about Gerald Blanchard, the world’s most ingenious thief and bank robber, who once parachuted onto a Viennese castle to steal the famed Koechert Diamond Pearl, and how he was eventually caught by two grizzled cops in Winnipeg, thanks to a Walmart worker’s tip. While Gerald was meticulous in preparing for his heists…

Thorough as ever, Blanchard had spent many previous nights infiltrating the bank to do recon or to tamper with the locks while James acted as lookout, scanning the vicinity with binoculars and providing updates via a scrambled-band walkie-talkie. He had put a transmitter behind an electrical outlet, a pinhole video camera in a thermostat, and a cheap baby monitor behind the wall. He had even mounted handles on the drywall panels so he could remove them to enter and exit the ATM room. Blanchard had also taken detailed measurements of the room and set up a dummy version in a friend’s nearby machine shop. With practice, he had gotten his ATM-cracking routine down to where he needed only 90 seconds after the alarm tripped to finish and escape with his score. – WIRED

…the cops who picked up the cold case caught him because an employee at the Walmart next door was pissed at people parking in their lot overnight and had written down the license plate of the car Gerald used in the robbery, and he had used his real name to rent the car.

Art of the Steal: On the Trail of World’s Most Ingenious Thief [WIRED]

Justin’s friend who was being sued by Chase Bank for $7,500 has an update for us after he and his friend read our advice and your comments on his situation. Turns out he’s not just in debt for $7,500, but for over $40,000:

Justin writes,

I spoke with my friend over the weekend, and he is working with a bankruptcy attorney. As I speculated, the Chase lawsuit was simply the “tip of the iceberg.” He’s actually in debt to the tune of nearly $40,000 ($30,000 car/consumer and $10,000 medical). He was also taken for about $4,000 from a “Debt Relief” company back when the economy was just beginning
its downward spiral.

Getting a loan from his family, although a good idea for most, was impossible in this situation. His parents are serial bill payers, and some of his debt went towards paying his parent’s bills when they couldn’t. Fiscal irresponsibility begets fiscal irresponsibility apparently.

Ultimately, declaring bankruptcy, based on his salary and his living situation, is probably not a terrible idea in this case. Being free of this huge financial burden and the harassing phone calls that came with it (even if only temporarily) provides a great deal of solace for him. Who knows, this might be the beginning of another fiscal responsibility success story. I’ll write back if/when he turns things around.

Thanks,

Justin (and Justin’s liver)

Aight. $40k is really not that much debt to get out of if you’re willing to get serious about it. It sounds like Justin’s friend isn’t, or believes, falsely, that he’s powerless. You can wallow in drink and self-pity and blame genetics, or you can get real.

Harassing phone calls? Those are potentially illegal and you can sue them for statutory damages. See, “Sample Letter For Telling A Debt Collector To Drop Dead.”

Building a nugget every month that you use to pay off debts? Totally doable if you use the tactics I described in the previous post and in the story about a reader who got debt free in 14 months.

But while I’d rather see Justin’s friend bootstrap and get financially responsible, but I do also understand that some people just aren’t capable of that. It doesn’t sound like Justin will be making any real estate transaction in the next decade so bankruptcy might not be the worst thing. Just as long as he uses it as a way to start over fresh and start being smart about his personal finances and stay away from using debt tools he can’t handle.

PREVIOUSLY: Sued By Chase Bank For $7500. Should I Declare Bankruptcy?

Financial rock star Warren Buffet is now a real rock star. He makes a cameo appearance in this internal GEICO company video looking for all the world like Axl Rose, doing his best old man rendering of a power ballad. The video was produced for GEICO’s annual employee meeting and uses real GEICO associates from across the country. It’s not the first one he’s been in either. Other ones feature him as a DJ and a hobo.

GEICO Musical

GEICO Rap, Warren appears as a DJ

This graphic by Heather at Image Think does a pretty good job of explaining the major features and changes of the health care bill that Obama is set to sign on Tuesday.

For Consumers, Clarity on Health Care Changes [Image Think via Jodi Beggs]

“The Republican Party is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the insurance industry.” So said Rep. Anthony Weiner of Brooklyn last month in front of Congress. As we move towards a historic vote on health care reform, let’s take a moment to throw some gas on the fire and revisit some of the awesomely incendiary rhetoric of this statesman on revamping our health care system. Now this a healthy health care debate!

Weiner stands up in front of Congress and calls the Republican party a wholly-owned subsidiary of the insurance industry. He is penalized for his remarks by a procedural rule, and is allowed to withdraw and revise them. He does so, and clarifies that every Republican is working for the insurance industry.

Weiner vs Fox n Friends

Fox n Friends can’t keep a good debater down.

Weiner Leaves Joe Scarborough Flummoxed

Weiner asks Scarborough several times what exactly health insurance companies are bringing to the table and he is incapable of responding.

Got a Verizon complaint wireless complaint that’s not getting anywhere? Live in the Northeast? Monica is your gal.

Monica D. Harper
NorthEast Area Executive Relations Verizon Wireless
240-568-2484
[email protected]

Quick, what’s the differences between the House and the Senate bills for creating the Consumer Financial Protection Agency? 4,3,2,1, okay, you can stop sweating, NYT has got you covered. Left column shows House, right column shows Senate. Choose the key areas to focus in on, like consumer protection, risk and executive pay on the left. Then dazzle your friends at the bar tonight!

Comparing the House and Senate Financial Reform Bills [NYT]

Bank of America is tops when it comes to having the most deadbeat customers. They are leading the pack in delinquent customers and charged off accounts. That ravenous acquisition strategy’s not looking so hot now, eh? You can gorge, but eventually you have to pay the check. Here’s how the major credit card companies stacked up Jan-Feb.

Delinquencies (more than 30 days overdue)

January | February
1. Bank of America 7.35% | 7.23% WINNER!
2. Citigroup 5.75 | 5.94
3. Capital One 5.80 | 5.51
4. Discover 5.55 | 5.50
5. Chase 4.75 | 4.67
6. American Express 3.60 | 3.60

Chargeoffs (when a consumer debt is written off the books and sold to an outside collector)

January | February

1. Bank of America 13.25% | 13.51% WINNER!
2. Citigroup 9.80 | 11.29
3. Capital One 10.41 | 10.19
4. Chase 10.91 | 9.21
5. Discover 8.58 | 9.11
6. American Express 7.00 | 7.40

Credit Card Issuers Still Facing Tough Times [LowCards]

Stuck in a $14,300 debt hole, reader Trixare4kids was dug herself out using tips she learned about on Consumerist. Let’s learn how she went on a personal finance rampage, learned to live frugally, did it all in 20 months, and how you can do it too!

She writes: “This morning I made my very last payment on $14,300 in credit card debt and a personal line of credit for a home improvement project that was completed a few years ago. I paid it off over the last 20 months thanks to applying some of the stuff I learned at consumerist.com. It was tough. It took discipline, but I did it!

Instead of making a bunch of changes at once, I did things a little over time. It looked something like this. It’s maybe not in the order that makes the most sense to a financial planner or in the order that someone else would do things; I just know that it worked for me.

MONTH 1: NEGOTIATING BETTER CREDIT CARDS RATES:
I called every single credit card company and tried to negotiate for a lower rate. I was successful with a lot of them. In once case the rate went from 14% to 7.99%. If they would not lower the interest rate, I politely thanked them and then transferred those balances onto lower rate cards. I canceled each card as it was paid off.

RELATED CONSUMERIST POST: Sample Script To Get Your Credit Card Rate Lowered

MONTH 2: GO CASH-ONLY:
I cut up every single card except one for emergencies. I actually put my remaining credit card in a big plastic cup full of water and stuck it in the freezer. That way, I’d really have to work at it to get that card. Cash only was the rule. If I did not have the cash, I did not need it. It’s still in the freezer 20 months later.

RELATED CONSUMERIST POST: Paying Cash-Only, Family Spends $1,800 Less

MONTH 3: START DEBT-SNOWBALL:
It really works. I first heard about this method on consumerist and set myself up to pay off the lowest balances first. I used an Excel spreadsheet I downloaded here. I liked this one because it was easy to add extra one-time payments. I know that it would probably save me more money to pay off the higher interest rates first, but it was very, very satisfying to get stuff paid and DONE with. I cannot even begin to explain how highly motivating it was to finally pay something off. It was worth whatever little amount extra it cost me extra to pay the smallest balances off first. It makes for that good “light at the end of the tunnel” feeling. I also set up automatic payments on payday through the online bill pay to make this a seamless process. For the first couple of months, I just started off with just $50 extra because that’s all I could afford. Once I started living more frugally, I applied more to the snowball.

Make extra payments to the snowball. They really do help, no matter how small. Every single extra penny that came my way went toward paying down the debt. At the end of the month, if I had anything left over in any of the budget categories, I immediately applied that as an extra payment. The nice thing about online bill pay is that it’s just so easy to make as many payments as you want. Sometimes it was $100, sometimes it was $10 or even $3 one month, but every little bit helps. I purchased a printer that was almost free after rebate and applied the rebate to the debt. I did a few side jobs helping a caterer do some prep work; I sold some books on half.com, cleaned out my garage and made $300 from a yard sale, grandma sent me money for my birthday and Christmas, you get the idea. The point is, every single extra penny went right to the debt.

RELATED CONSUMERIST POST: Use Snowball Method Spreadsheet To Pay Off Debts

MONTH 4: SET UP BUDGET:
I made a budget and figured out where exactly my money was going.

RELATED CONSUMERIST POST: On The Money’s Budget Calculator Helps Guide Your Monthly Spending

MONTH 5: CUT BACK EXPENSES:
I figured out what I could cut back on or go without. Not only did I figure out what I was giving up would save me I also diligently applied that amount to the snowball. It also really helps to figure out what something is costing you per year. I had no idea I was spending $600 a year just on manicures!

Here’s what I gave up:

Cable TV. Got a cheap netflix plan and a roku player instead. Savings: $17/month, $204 a year
Land line phone. Savings: $27/month, $324/year
Gardener. Savings: $40/month, $480/year
Got slower DSL. Savings: $10/month, $120/year
Manicures. Did my own. Savings: $50/month, $600/year
Public Radio Membership. Sorry KQED and KALW, but I have to come first right now. I’ll continue to support you later. Savings: $11/month, $132/year
Gym Membership. Savings: $30/month, $360/year
Lunches at work. Savings: $120 month, $1440/year
Starbucks. Savings: $60/month, $720/year

Total extra towards snowball: $365/month, $4,380/year.
Just like that.

RELATED CONSUMERIST POST: 5 Expenses You Can’t Afford If You Have Credit Card Debt

MONTH 6:
I worked on cutting my spending in other ways.

I am an avid reader and I realized one of my biggest expenditures was new books. I gave up my Amazon habit and switched to the library. My local library allows you to browse the catalog online and request books be sent to the branch of your choice. I work 2 blocks from a branch so I just picked up things there. I also used paperbackswap.com, bookmooch.com and swaptree.com to give books I no longer wanted and in return get books I wanted. It only cost me the price of shipping books to other users via media mail. I saved unknown hundreds and hundreds of dollars by making this simple switch.

For example, in September, I spent $36 on postage to send out used books, books that would otherwise just be sitting around and in return I received about $300 worth of books had I bought them new at retail price. For those who are into DVDs and CDs, swapadvd.com and swapacd.com are also awesome sites. (Other than being a member, I’m not affiliated with any of those sites)

I stopped buying anything new. If I really, really needed something, I would ask first on freecycle http://www.freecycle.org/ and search craigslist for used items for sale. For example, my hairdryer stopped working about 6 months ago. Instead of running out to buy a new one, I posted an “Item Wanted” listing on the yahoo group and had a new and FREE hair dryer within 24 hours.

Food Budget: I ate the kind of things I normally eat; I just made some simple substitutions. I ate at home instead of eating out. I brought my lunch to work instead of eating out, but I did let myself eat out on Payday Friday. I used coupons and only bought very small amounts of perishable items so there was no waste. I stocked up on items like toilet paper when there was a really good sale, but was careful not to buy too many perishables. Nothing went to waste. I gave up paper towels and used rags instead. I shopped at the grocery outlet instead of Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck)

Instead of buying new clothes (except for bras, panties and socks) I shopped for things at thrift and consignment stores.

I know it sounds like I gave a lot of stuff up, but I don’t see it that way – I kept thinking about what I was GETTING instead, which is freedom from debt. I still gave myself a small budget for entertainment and frugal dining out once in awhile, and please, nothing could induce me to give up my hairdresser!

You’d be surprised how much you can actually do for FREE if you just look around.

Free Theatre: Lots of theatres need volunteer ushers. You work in the theatre for an hour or so before the show, maybe stuffing envelopes or something. You help seat people before the show and then you get to see the show for free. You often get good seats too. I saw 3 or 4 free show a month this way. You often have to wear black
slacks or skirt and a white shirt, but that’s a small price to pay for free theatre.

Artist’s receptions: You get to mingle and talk with people, see some (hopefully) lovely and interesting art, plus get fed wine and cheese.

I also used squidlist to find cheap and free things to do.

HOW IT FEELS
I was disciplined and determined and I did it! Thank you consumerist! As of today I am debt free (except for my thankfully low fixed-rate mortgage) and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my mind. My spirit feels lighter. I am FREE. I am doing a happy dance! My plan is to continue to live frugally and start building up a savings
now. I will never, ever be in that much debt again. I never want to feel the stress an anxiety of owing so much.

Oh yeah, all during this time, I also put just $40 per month away into a savings account (ING) which I set up as an automatic $20 deduction every payday. I now have $800 to spend guilt-free and after 20 months I’m ready for a vacation. So, as my prize for getting debt free, I just booked a $295 flight to Cancun a bit later in October. I really deserve this vacation for a job well done and best of all? It’s NOT going on a credit card.

Thanks, consumerist!

-trixare4kids”

Excellent work! We’re proud of you, trixare. You really buckled down and make the right decisions to aggressively attack your debt. For anyone who’s in debt, even if you just adopt a few things, there’s a lot in here to get you further down the path towards true financial freedom.

Which of trixare’s tips was most inspirational? What have you done in the past to get out of debt? How has the recession changed your personal finance debt strategy? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

This post originally appeared Oct. 10, 2008

Next week the New York Times has asked me to be on a panel they’re hosting called, “Your Money: A Financial Tuneup,” along with Your Money columnist Ron Leiber, Jean Chatzky, the author of “Money 911”,” and Burton Malkiel, an economics professor at Princeton and author of “A Random Walk Down Wall Street.” Should be a fun and engaging look at how people are dealing with personal finance issues in these times.

Thursday, March 25, 6:30 pm.
620 8th ave, 15th floor, New York Times building
Free admission. RSVP to financialtuneup.net

More info here.

‘Financial Tuneup’: A Live Event [NYT Bucks Blog]

I am shooting PLUNDER FUNNEL – a video short skewering sleazy late night infomercial get rich quick schemes! And I need 2 actors.

Need:
1 bombastic salesman
1 girl to open a mailbox and have money shoot into her face and then fall over

Shooting in-studio Monday/Tuesday 3/22-3/23 in YONKERS, NY, green screen up the yinyang.
Video will be shot in HD and, in April, appear prominently on Consumerist.
Transportation, tiny stipend, lunch, DVD of final version, provided.

Hit me up if you’re game – [email protected]

Here is the script:

PLUNDER FUNNEL
BEN POPKEN

EXT. YARD – DAY
JEROME stands in front of a fountain on a large green yard. Behind is a red sports car in the driveway.

VOICEOVER
Plunder funnel!

JEROME
Hi, I’m Jerome Windexter, and I’m here to teach you the secrets of achieving financial freedom. Just attend one of my free seminars this weekend at the-

VOICEOVER
– Newark Double Tree Motel –

JEROME
– To learn how to make thousands while you sleep. This is not a scam, ripoff, hustle, swindle, shenanigan, flimflam, boondoggle, decepticon, or even a scam!

VOICEOVER
Plunder funnel!

JEROME
Do you know two people? Good!

CUT TO graphic of one stick figure with two stick figures below. Green dollar signs start flow from the two people to the first. A pyramid of people pop up with a river of dollar signs flowing to the top.

JEROME
My proven system will teach you how to transform any human relationship into cold hard cash!

CUT TO Jerome sitting in fountain, now with lots of cash in the water. He splashes around.

JEROME
How much would you like to be earning in extra income per month? A thousand? Five thousand? Seven hundred thousand three-hundred twenty-nine? The only limit is infinity!

CUT TO MAN opening mail. He opens his bank statement. Under account balance it says, “$∞”

MAN
Thanks, plunder funnel!

JEROME
Some so-called “investigative journalists” have called this a “pyramid scheme.”

CUT TO Jerome standing in front of fountain, dripping. A superimposed graphic of a pyramid appears.

JEROME
But flip a pyramid and what do you get? A funnel! A plunder funnel gushing straight into your bank account.

The pyramid graphic flips over and shakes up and down, dumping gold into a treasure chest.

JEROME
No gimmicks or gotchas. No envelope-stuffing or juice crystals. Just money, money, money!

CUT TO WOMAN in bathrobe opening their mailbox in front of the house. An explosion of cash shoots out and hits her in the face, knocking her over. She laughs with delight. The cash continues to shoot out and pile up on her.

VOICEOVER
Plunder funnel!

CUT TO Jerome in sportscar revving engine. BIKINI GALS lay writhing everywhere, fondling layers of jeweled necklaces.

JEROME
So I’ll see you this weekend at the –

VOICEOVER
– Newark Double Tree Motel –

JEROME
– Or call the number at the bottom of your screen to receive my free internet book!

VOICEOVER
Shipping and handling not included.

JEROME
The money is out there just sitting in people’s wallets, practically begging you to take it! The only question is, will you?

CUT TO wad of cash sticking out of a wallet.

MONEY
Please! Take us! We’re so horny!

CUT TO star going supernova. “CALL NOW!!!” graphic zooms in.

BLACKOUT