Archives for April 2014

5 Tricks To Save Money At Starbucks (Updated)

Updated: Unfortunately, Starbucks reduced certain benefits, and is making it more difficult to find these powerful savings. I’ve changed a couple points to reflect the shift.

Starbucks is a favorite scapegoat of budget-minded personal finance gurus. Spending $4-5 on an espresso drink is unfathomable. The basic understanding is that if you spend that much every day or even a few times a week, it adds up. Spend $5 for 120 days (1/3 a year) and you’re looking at a staggering bill of $608. For someone on a strict budget that can really hamper your goals. Few people who are frugaling would argue that they have an extra $608 lying around for coffee.

Today, I’m presenting a slightly different angle. As a student, I’m often away from home for extended hours. I frequently make coffee before I leave, but I like to have a cup in the middle of the day, too. This presents a budget versus energy conundrum: To have the coffee and get my rocket fuel, or save money and feel tired.

Rather than choose one option, I’ve decided to save money at Starbucks and reduce the amount of times I frequent the major coffee chain. When you look at the prices at your local Starbucks, you probably see a variety of high-priced, calorie-packed drinks – all exorbitantly indulgent and painful to your pocketbook. But the way I see it, I immediately take 12-13% off that price – every time.

Photo: shinji_w/flickr

Here are 5 tricks for staying frugal at your favorite coffeehouse:

1. BYOT: Bring Your Own Tumbler ($0.10 discount)

Anytime you bring your own mug or tumbler, Starbucks rewards you with a $0.10 cup discount. Filling up a 16+ ounce tumbler should cost you over $2, but the discount helps keep it under that. I always carry mine around, as it’s far greener than using and throwing away paper cups every day. An added perk of using a tumbler is that it stays warmer for longer and you drink slower.

2. Use, Register Your Starbucks Card (8.33% discount)

This is pretty simple: Get a Starbucks card and register it online. Yes, you’ll sacrifice some privacy and Starbucks will have a rough estimate of every location you could possibly be in (just think how many Starbucks there are in the world). In exchange for this location information, Starbucks rewards you with 8.33% (or more) and free refills on brewed coffees.

Basically, once you register the card and start using it, you’ll collect drink points. For every 12 drinks/food items, I get a free one. When I bring my own tumbler ($0.10 discount) and use that with my Starbucks card, I’m actually receiving an additional 8.33% off the final price in the form of a future reward. The best part is that the reward can be for anything. Once you collect your twelfth bonus drink, you can use it for a venti whateverfrap at $5 or buy a bacon gouda sandwich (like I often do). These both cost more than my traditional morning/afternoon coffee, and effectively cause your total discount per order to be even more than 8.33%!

3. Order The “Short” (cheaper and you still get free refills)

What’s a “short”? Well, it’s an off-the-menu drink size that every Starbucks employee knows about. Instead of the tall size, which is 12 oz, the short is a measly 8 oz. Now, if you’re on-the-go and a regular coffee drinker like me, it’s hard to fathom drinking such a paltry sum (am I right?). But if you’ve got some time on your hands and you’ll be hanging out at Starbucks, it’s by far the best deal.

Order a short coffee with your registered Starbucks card and you’ll pay a face value of about $1.65 (depending on the location). Based on the 10% discount from before, your short, brewed coffee will ring in around $1.49. At that price, you’re likely to beget the myth that Starbucks is a super expensive coffee chain. The best part is that you can still get free refills on these drinks, too! I regularly get a refill, which effectively halves the price per cup at $0.75.

4. Use A Rewards Card To Pay Your Starbucks Card (2% discount)

I’m back to using credit cards after a brief experiment only using cash. When used responsibly, credit cards can maximize your savings for purchases you were already going to complete. When you refill/top off your Starbucks card using a rewards credit card, you still get the bonus points that the credit issuer pays out.

Let’s say I use a rewards credit card to refill my account. By doing so, I get an immediate 2% discount to the Starbucks refill/order. If you follow the previous method, you’re actually going to be paying only $0.73 per cup!

5. Buy Starbucks Coffee At A Grocery Store ($5 per pound)

This is one of the simplest methods to save when you’re out and about and need a coffee fix: Buy a pound of Starbucks coffee at your local market. On the front of every bag of Starbucks coffee nowadays should be a coupon for a free tall coffee. To be honest, Starbucks coffee is hardly ever the most inexpensive, frugal choice at the supermarket, but when you combine free drink deals and maybe a coupon from the Sunday ads, you’re in serious business.

Starbucks regularly offers a $2 off coupon on the purchase of 2 one-pound bags of coffee. Let’s say one pound is $8 – multiply that by 2 and you’ll get $16. Use your coupon and the price gets knocked down to around $14. The two bags will include two tall coffees, as well. That is a value of about $4. Effectively, this brings your grand total for the 2 bags to about $10 after all your savings ($5 a pound).

Unfortunately, the free coffee for a bag of coffee is actively being phased out. Scoop up some of the last bags with the old design, and you’ll still get a free cup!

What If Gas Were $10 Per Gallon?

By Frugaling 5 Comments

Price Of Gas Pump Fuel Tax Car — *Photo: flickr/stevesnodgrass*

As a car owner, my budget is precariously balanced on the assumption that I’ll only be putting in about $40-50 per month in my tank. Being frugal is often described as an effortful choice, but what if the socio-political climate affected that ability? What if transportation costs became a burden we could no longer balance? What would we have to cut out? How would our lives change?

Yesterday, I attended a thought-provoking debate held by public policy center of my university. The organization tries to inform the general public about policy and health concerns that could occur. With proactive and prevention-based education, they believe that the general public may be able to better handle adverse events.

This week’s question was: What if gas were $10 per gallon?

What could cause gas prices to spike?

There are various events that could influence the price we pay at the pump. While many are prevented on a daily basis, crises could occur that temporarily or permanently spike gasoline. The following are 5 catalysts that quickly come to mind:

Increased domestic demand from businesses, industry sector
Global market needs for gasoline
Speculation from oil traders
OPEC and/or the largest oil producers curtail output
Terrorism, war, instability, or something unpredictable

While unlikely, these concerns can and do occur. For instance, back in 1973, we had a terrible oil crisis that sent prices up 400% and left budgets decimated. Embargos from oil-producing countries made for historic highs at the pump.

We don’t have to look that far back to see atmospheric increases. In 2011, Hawaii documented record-high gas prices nearing $5 per gallon. Even though it’s a small island, this severely impacted the economy and population.

How much do we currently spend on transportation?

If gas increased to $10 per gallon, we’d be in real trouble. Our economy and transportation systems would be heavily burdened by large fluctuations. Think about how much you drive for fun, errands, work, children, etc.

Spending on transportation is second only to housing expenses. Every year, Americans spend an average $17,000 on housing costs, with $9,000 going to transportation needs. If gas prices tripled to $10 per gallon, we would suddenly be looking for compromises in our budgets. From public transportation to private citizens, everyone would be impacted.

How would life change if this happened?

The threat of gas spikes and/or continued increases really highlights the fragility of our current consumer system. If transportation costs skyrocket, we may see significant modifications in our driving, purchasing, and vacation behaviors. A quick jaunt to the local supermarket would instead be an adventure saved up for and withheld until absolutely necessary.

People would probably opt to bike to work and run errands. Plastic bags would likely disappear, as the energy needs would be too demanding. Heating our homes would be painfully expensive in the winter.

Eventually, we would continue and the economy would recover around this new life. Cities would likely condense and become more urban, with suburb populations flocking to central areas. This would motivate people to seek alternative energy forms and mass-produce electric vehicles. Changes would most certainly occur, but sometimes for the better.

I wonder: If we pretended like it were already $10 a gallon, would we live greener, healthier, and more frugal lives? How do you think you’d change your travel habits if gas went to $10 per gallon?

3 Books To Unleash The Financial Guru In You

By Frugaling 16 Comments

There’s a simple reading rule that Warren Buffett asserts: Read 500 pages a day. He soaks up everything he can get his hands on, and that leads to a massive amount per day. Buffett contends that by reading this voluminous amount of information, you’re effectively investing in yourself – “knowledge builds up, like compound interest.”

The Oracle of Omaha has been doing pretty well for himself these days; reportedly, he’s making an average $37 million a day. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, has skyrocketed in share price in recent years. For him, all that reading means smart investments and terrific paydays.

When I was in high school, I avoided books like they were laced with smallpox. I’d read Sparknotes and research the main topics of books on the web; ignoring the censures and recommendations of astute instructors, pleading that I actually read the assigned novels. When I remark on my primary education, I cannot remember a single assigned book I read cover-to-cover.

Nowadays, I read voraciously. I cannot get enough; albeit, I’ve not reached 500 pages per day – that’s insane. The following are 3 must-read books for the future financial guru in you! Isn’t it time you unleashed the Buffett in you?

1. Confessions of a Street Addict by Jim Cramer

There was one book I remember from high school, and it wasn’t assigned to me. When I was a junior and senior, I thought I might pursue a career in business. The world of investing and finance was tantalizing – I dreamed of getting a job on Wall Street. Those ideas were born from a thorough and repetitive reading of Jim Cramer’s Confessions of a Street Addict.

Despite Jim Cramer taking a beating by popular media types such as Jon Stewart, the man started from fairly humble beginnings and worked tirelessly to make a career on Wall Street. For some time, he lived out of his car and was uncertain about his financial and vocational future. Cramer was educated at the best of Harvard’s schools and went on to manage his own hedge fund that was quite profitable.

This book is less about advice than a thorough look through the eyes of a financial guru. Confessions of a Street Addict is a terrific read – well written – and nasty at times. Cramer does not paint the business world in a pretty light; rather, he shines a spotlight on some of the craziest parts of finance.

2. I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi

When I got to college, I realized I needed to balance my budget and better understand my cash flow. I was spending money like there was no tomorrow. Living in the moment led me to outspend my budget and eventually into a significant debt load. Ramit Sethi’s I Will Teach You To Be Rich is a wonderful primer for understanding a variety of financial principles.

The book takes readers on a journey of lessons and financial changes. Sethi teaches people how to automate finances and easily control spending. Likewise, the book suggests a variety of personal finance checking, savings, and investment accounts that will help to maximize your interest rates and side income.

Filled with practical tips, this is perfect for millennials that may be starting their financially frugal journey. I refer back to this book quite frequently to recall what steps I should be taking to maximize my return on investments.

3. The Big Short by Michael Lewis

There’s not a lot of fact and depth in the news surrounding the most recent financial meltdown. If you’ve been paying attention, you probably have heard of credit default swaps, bad mortgages, and some of the leading banks being targeted by federal inquiries. Unfortunately, little has changed since the catastrophe, and we may see this happen again.

Michael Lewis is the now famous author for Moneyball, after the book was turned into a movie. Lewis is a gifted researcher and writer, weaving fact and intrigue into effortless stories. Suddenly, complex financial instruments are fascinating concepts that are fairly easy to understand.

The Big Short is one of Lewis’ best books, and a must-read for people that want to better understand the meltdown and see who actually profited off the mess. Surprisingly, there was an elite group of mathematicians and investors that bet in the opposite direction and made millions/billions off the downfall.

How Much Can You Make From Class Action Lawsuits?

By Frugaling 2 Comments

Are you familiar with class action rebates? They can be pretty straightforward and an often forgotten way to get some extra cash. A couple weeks ago I received an email from Amazon.com saying that I had received money from a settlement. The lawsuit involved eBooks and something about unfair pricing tactics that impacted the ultimate cost to consumers. I’m surprised it didn’t get caught in my spam blocker, as the email seemed to be a poor phishing attempt for my details.

To my surprise, it was real. If you purchased an eBook during the dates involved in the settlement, you should’ve received some amount of credit to your account. I saw people tweeting that they received anywhere from $1 to $60.

What caught me off guard was that I had no idea about the lawsuit — or the settlement. Honestly, I still don’t know much about the lawsuit’s fineprint or why my account was credited for eBook purchases. Regardless, I received a little infusion of $6.82. I’ll take it!

Class action lawsuits are sometimes frivolous and hurt productivity at top companies. But frequently they protect consumers, and correct wrongs. There’s an entire world of class action lawsuits that gets distributed to shareholders, car owners, household products; really, anything under the sun. You’ve probably received a letter from a law firm explaining that they were given your information and are now filing a class-action lawsuit. Most of the time, if a settlement is reached, you get a couple dollars.

But sometimes you don’t hear about them. For instance, if you go to your grocery store and buy Neutrogena moisturizer, the manufacturer doesn’t know you — individually — made that purchase. The only way for you to receive compensation is to submit your claim. Few companies have an interest in letting you know that an offer has been made. It’s a lot more work for them, when they have to payout all these checks and fulfill the full settlement.

To be a critical and informed consumer, there are various sites that can help. Over the last few months I learned about one that specializes in collecting class-action lawsuits. My favorite is called Class Action Rebates, and it’s free! When you go to the website, it explains three key steps to received settlement claims.

First, find products you purchased. Most products don’t even need a receipt; albeit, falsifying product purchases is a fast way to land in jail. If you kept the old receipts and documentation, you can often receive more.

Second, fill out an online claim form. Class Action Rebates tells you how long a form should take to fill out. Got five minutes? I guarantee you can fill one rebate form.

Third, wait an obscenely long period of time for a check in the mail. Most take about 6-8 weeks, but I’ve had surprise checks hit my mailbox about 2-3 months after submitting a claim.

That’s it. Once you’ve completed those three steps, you’ll be on your way to making money off companies that wronged you! You can find anything car problems, vitamins, batteries, and more. Pretty much anything in supermarkets is fair game. Both as a way to save and make money, filing class action lawsuit claims are exceptionally important.

While I’m not suddenly a millionaire, the money earned from the settlements probably totals more than $100. As I work to pay off my student loans, every little bit counts. Find out more about how it works on Class Action Rebates’ website.