Apple Pay Will Make You Pay

iPhone and Macbook for Apple Pay — *Photo: William Iven/Unsplash*

Apple’s agenda should scare you

Last week, Apple held their 2016 Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). Like always, it was a smorgasbord of updates to operating systems and apps, developer fandom, and hooplah over Siri’s special powers (now she’ll work across devices!).

Cue the applause.

However, I had this weird problem when I went to stream the keynote. You see, Google Chrome was blocked from being able to watch the event. The website told me I needed to be in the Safari browser on a Mac or iOS device (i.e., iPhone or iPad).

I thought nothing of it at the time; except, “Well, this is inconvenient.” But really, why should I care? I simply switched to Safari and then streamed every remaining second of it. My mind spit out whatever I was doing beforehand in favor of all things Apple. I was jacked in.

But in that moment — that blip of inconvenience due to Apple’s desire to withhold information from any Android or PC user, something distasteful festered. My head kept picking at it like a stubborn cuticle. It felt uncomfortable to be forced to switch. Why should I need to? There’s something arrogant about it. Apple was a pioneer in technology; surely, they knew how to present the keynote address across multiple browsers, right? The intentionality felt hostile — a confrontation to openness in the Internet Age.

The cost of being a user

Many people have talked about Apple as a “walled garden.” What they’re implying is that the company is protective of their devices, operating system functions, and who can play in the iOS world. For developers and consumers, the effects have pros and cons. Apple’s devices are more secure, but they’re also more expensive.

You’ve got to pay up to belong, but membership has its… privileges. The devices are beautiful and the operating system is solid. But paying up – in more ways than one — is quickly becoming Apple’s specialty. For starters, their devices have some of the largest margins in the industry. As most of the hardware industry has dwindled, Apple’s pushed on to become one of the largest companies in the world.

Now, their financial acumen goes beyond the machines they manufacture. About two years ago, the company made moves into the financial industry with Apple Pay. It used to be limited to restaurants, groceries, gas stations, and other retailers that accept plastic credit cards. Those retailers employed Near-Field Communication (NFC) devices that could then accept iPhones and Watches via Apple Pay. Users could rid their wallet of the extra plastic in the process. How easy!

You’ll pay for updates to Apple Pay

This year’s WWDC contained a little nod to Apple Pay in the form of a button that could be placed on websites that accept credit transactions. They dubbed it, “Apple Pay on the Web.” This new button would take the place of filling out forms and spending countless hours of your life punching in 16-digit numbers, expiration dates, CVV codes, full names, addresses, phone numbers, your blood type, your cousin’s maiden name, and your favorite fruit.

Apple’s making a value proposition. Essentially, they’re saying, “We know you value your time. That’s why we’ve created an ingenious solution that’ll solve the hassle and time it takes to shop online.”

Behind this “solution” is a masterclass in consumption. First, Apple Pay will only work with Macs; at least, to start. You’ll need a Mac running Safari. As always, Apple’s computers have a large profit margin built in. That means you’re paying a hefty amount over comparable systems just to pay for things online (are we noticing a consumption loop here?).

Second, Apple is pairing Apple Pay on the Web with iPhones. That phone is going to cost you, as well. Heck, a new iPhone costs about $700 off contract. The phone will be used to “confirm” transactions — press your thumb (or any other digit of your choosing) to your TouchID sensor. Et voila! You’ve purchased… something.

Third, all this “innovation” is to help you consume, to pay more, to think less, to spend more time mashing your thumb against a sensor. It’s made for businesses more than consumers. And while it’s awesome to have autofill forms, instant transactions, and secure payments, shouldn’t we weigh the potential costs of this so-called progress?

Reduced friction = increased spend

The convenience of online retailers contains a risk for some spenders: reduced friction. Friction occurs when you rub your hands together — feel that heat? Friction is the reason I’m burning so much gas in my car, too. Just read the company’s description about Apple Pay:

Customers love the simplicity of Apple Pay, and you’ll love the increased conversion rates and new user adoption that come with it.

Apple Pay for the Web will reduce time spent critically making important decisions that directly affect your wallet. Will you spend or save today? Even more, the method continues to encourage the Apple-everything mindset in the face of lofty price points. They’ve created a system to reduce friction for a small subset of the population — those that can pay up to have at least two Apple-branded products at all times.

Today, I see a modality that shouldn’t be encouraged. For Apple, by Apple. They’re creating a world where nobody else can play; unless, you’re an Apple owner, then you’ll pay.

July 2014 — Monthly Income Report

By Frugaling 25 Comments

Less is more. Incidental Comics. — Credit: Incidental Comics

Important: My preamble before profits

Despite being a personal finance website and blog, I’ve hesitated to regularly provide specific earnings. Each time I’ve shared writing revenue — at 6 and 12 months — it’s taken me some time to deliberate whether I should. My revenue isn’t everything, and frankly, it’s been steadily declining since last summer. But while I made less revenue, I saw more traffic — the important metric to me.

Many personal finance blogs share their earnings on a regular, monthly basis with their readers. My fear in regularly doing so may come from an irrational place, but I worry that sharing this information is like eating junk food; the syrupy sweet taste goes down easily, but it has a vapid nutritional value. Do public displays of revenue help those that follow this site? Would love your input!

While keeping these questions in mind, I’ve decided to write about last month’s earnings, analyze the data, and provide forward-looking goals. Hopefully, you can take this information and let it inspire you to reduce your debt and meet some of your own financial dreams. Maybe you’ll start a blog of your own!

July 2014 Income Report

This month I truly learned what it meant to have an article go viral. Shortly after publishing “Destroy The 40-Hour Workweek,” the site quickly received the most incredible response ever. Google Analytics data showed that there were over 221,000 pageviews because of this tremendous social networking surge. Obviously, the increased traffic affected my income for this month, too. Most of this is reflected in an incredible spike in Google AdSense earnings.

LinkOffers Affiliates
$416.00 (Down $200 compared to last month)

Affiliate sales led the way. My most popular articles that lead to commissioned sales are the Barclaycard Arrival and US Airways credit cards. Unfortunately, sales have steadily declined in recent months; likely, due to a combination of search engine optimization (SEO) problems that were caused by server problems. Also, referral rates have been in decline, which means that each sale equaled fewer commissions.

Google AdSense
$247.95 (Up $204.49 compared to last month)

As I mentioned earlier, Google AdSense had a huge spike in revenue that was largely attributable to my viral post. Click-through-rates did not change by much, but the surge led to more clicks and impressions. I recently added a couple videos to YouTube and used one of them in an article about moving from my old apartment. While miniscule, the ads on YouTube are contributing to my earnings.

Amazon Associates
$1.13 (Negligible change)

There’s not much to say here. Amazon Associates is one of the most flexible and user-friendly affiliate networks. Moreover, it pays a fair amount for each item sold. When I linked to TurboTax during the tax season, I actually made about $200. But since then, it’s been pretty stagnant.

Total July 2014 Earnings: $665.08

Forward-looking statements

My main goal in starting this site was always focused on building a network and traffic stream. Money wasn’t the main motivator. But revenue from this website has changed my life forever. It’s given me an incredible lift in mood and gives me an outlet to share my thoughts. I’m truly honored to have visitors and followers. Your contributions fueled me to write more than I ever thought would be possible.

Going forward, I want to build on my fundamental desire for traffic. I’d like to increase subscribers via email (please sign up!), more frequently engage with Twitter followers, and find ways to integrate Facebook with the site. Whatever money follows would be a wonderful thing, but hardly the sole, motivating factor to this site.

The other piece that I want to begin including on Frugaling are book reviews. Anything that has to do with money, finance, and stock markets, I want to review and share with you. Hopefully, it can be a quick way for you to stay informed about complicated financial matters and offer me an opportunity to do something I love: read.

Thanks for viewing my report. If you have any recommendations, questions, or comments, please leave them below. I love nothing more than helping another person make their goals come true! Best of luck!

My High School Gambling Problem

By Frugaling 9 Comments

Poker Table Chips Cards Gambling Problem — *Photo: flickr/imagesofmoney*

As a Millennial and part of the tech generation, I grew up around computers. I can’t remember much of a time before the Internet. Computers were ever-present by the time I reached middle school. When I was in fourth grade, I learned HTML and began writing code by hand – a geek of the highest order.

In elementary school, my parents bought their first computer. I was glued to the magic of the mouse, keyboard, and screen working together in a confluence of beautiful technology. These integrated zeros and ones seemed to dance before me, and it wasn’t long before I started making money from it all.

Today, I have a secret to share with you all: in high school, I had a gambling problem. In 2004, I started playing poker with my friends. It started out pretty casual and fun; lighthearted, even. Large groups of people would coalesce at one person’s house every couple weeks, and a doable $5 buy-in would be advertised. Texts and phone calls would be sent out, and the get-togethers were great.

Poker Cards Chips Texas Hold Em Gambling Problem — *Photo: flickr/deutero*

The buy-ins (the amount to play in tournament-style texas hold ’em poker) grew, too. What was $5 soon became $10, $20, and there were even re-buys (to buy back in for extra if you had lost once) at another $20. The shared prizes were amounting to hundreds and hundreds of dollars. If you won, you could easily walk away with an extra $100-200+ in your pockets. The infusion of funds was electrifying. I was hooked and loving it.

Some people were inspired by the statistical underpinnings. Behind it all, poker between friends was a stats-based game of skill and chance. But if you mastered the art of stats, your chances became stronger. Poker wasn’t pure gambling, as the same winners would be on the leaderboard week-to-week. They were doing something right.

The mathematics never appealed to me; instead, I loved the interpersonal dynamics – the play, candor, and fight between personalities at the table. Give me 8 other opponents, and I believed strongly that I could understand their style, bets, and choices. This was exciting and enticing. Unfortunately, at the end of every tournament, the game would be done for a couple weeks. I’d have to put my earnings and love for poker on hold.

I was looking to fill that gap, and that’s when I found online poker. The world of online poker is complicated to explain in the space and time I have today. Basically, the in-person life I was experiencing every couple weeks could happen every day – at any time. There were hundreds of thousands of players worldwide. Money was flowing – some would say overflowing. A growing mass of amateurs were joining, dropping $100, $200, $1,000 into online accounts. Frankly, they were suckers and I was ready to take advantage of their inexperience.

In 2005-2006, I was playing regularly online through two websites. I entered a couple tournaments and made nearly $2,000 in a couple weeks. When I played “cash games” (no buy-in and not in a tournament style), I was averaging anywhere from $7-10 per hour. Mind you, I was a sophomore/junior in high school, and this kind of money was astronomical to me.

Unfortunately, I had one major problem: I couldn’t stop. The money was so powerful and my earnings were ridiculously lucrative. I lost respect for money, and that’s where things got troublesome.

I was only 16 years old, had made thousands of dollars off of poker, and I was getting bored. Better said, I wanted to raise the stakes and make more money. $2,000 here and there was no longer enough – I wanted the $50,000 prizes and $50 an hour average pay. Amidst this mix of greed and boredom was a toxic combination. I started playing one-on-one (colloquially: “heads-up”) for hundreds of dollars at a time.

The numbers didn’t really mean anything, and it all began to feel pretty surreal. Once, I continually bet $100 against someone – over and over again – until I lost about $400. My heart was racing. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Within seconds, I had lost hundreds, and all without care. I had been gambling for entertainment, and this was never the intention.

Off and on, I struggled to stop or curtail it – a telltale sign of addiction. The rush was calling and I itched to play more – in time and money. As my winnings disappeared, I saw my savings account go back down to near-zero. In addiction parlance, I had hit rock bottom, and began selling off dvds, books, and anything I could get my hands on to keep funding the rush. When I ran out of that, I used credit cards. When I ran out of that, I realized I had lost everything.

I’m about 5-6 years “sober” from poker/gambling problem. I haven’t touched a deck of cards to teach or play texas hold ’em. I blocked and closed all online accounts. Like all dependencies, I know this itch is eager to get back out there and play another hand. Instead, I’m writing this article and saving my precious pennies. Now, my life is changing and it has nothing to do with the cards I’ve been dealt.

Make An Extra $10000 In 6 Months

By Frugaling 43 Comments

Where I Was

Tomorrow marks the 6-month anniversary of Frugaling.org! On May 4th, 2013, I finally wrote about my struggle with student loans and my hope for a better life – one without the worries of excessive debt. My debt sat at $37,719 and would be pushed over $40,000 with the fall semester’s loans. I was scared, and I wondered aloud, “Would the amount of debt I have prevent somebody or scare them away from a serious relationship or marriage? Could debt be so burdensome, if shared, that people just avoid it at all costs?”

Remarkably, I’ve been able to continue to churn through article after article, while maintaining one of the busiest graduate school semesters of my life. But I’ve been motivated by a pressing need to change the paradigm. I live a life where everything I enjoy is taxed at an artificial rate: 6.8% active interest.

Starting a website like this was almost comical. My friends, coworkers, and family members generally gave me a resounding “That’s nice” message. Most thought it was a waste of time. I appreciated their rejections and skepticism, while completely fighting against every concern. People thought I was crazy to be in grad school, writing about personal finance, and have the lofty goal of paying back debt while in the process.

Make An Extra Side Income Money Challenging Gif — *There was definitely some skepticism to my excitement…*

Where I Am

When I started, there were about 10-20 readers per day. It was safe to say my friends were taking pity on me and visiting to be nice. 6 months later, the site brings in 20 times that per day, and is consistently growing. Concerns over car/student loans, ways to save, and ideas about making more money have led to a site with growing popularity. Frugaling is about to cross the top 150,000 websites in the world and received about 83,000 visits in 6 months.

The excitement goes beyond website statistics. As I open up my Mint.com account and peek at my debt balance, I’m reassured by positive change. My debt load now sits at $34,179 – that’s a reduction of $3,000! I was able to pay back all the loans I took from this semester and pay back an extra $3,000 – in total it’s about $6,000.

By creating this site, I’ve been able to making serious amounts of advertising revenue – in the neighborhood of $10,000. I’ve shared this number with a couple of most closest friends and family members; suddenly, this is a serious living. Comically, I’ve never made more per month than the last 6 months. The money has been directed primarily to student loans and creating financial savings. I’ve grown more hopeful by the dollar, as I realize there’s an out – I can do this!

I feel like a lottery winner. Now, my monthly interest payments sit at $100 a month for the student loans. This is both manageable and something I’m ready to devour. Left and right, I’ve been paying my loan manager $500 to $1,000 at a clip. I’ve been paying so much money that the servicer sent an email reminding me that nothing was “due” yet. Little do they know that I want to pay off the active interest loans prior to graduation. If I fail, that’s okay – I’d rather fail trying.

Where I Am Going

I don’t want to lose my original intentions for starting this site, though. I created Frugaling to share my voice about personal finance, offer a reflective perspective, voice frequent opinions, help people tackle their debt, and encourage my readers to get frugal. For the next six months, I’m going to attempt to deliver the best content to my readers yet.

From experimental diets and budgets to new writers and perspectives, Frugaling is going to get a tremendous upgrade. By the year’s end I’d like to reach 500 Twitter followers, 100 Google+ followers, and write another 40-50 articles. Over the next couple months, I’m looking forward to cultivating some new contributors to the site and beginning to expand beyond my sole perspective.

When it comes to my debt, I intend to pay another $2,000 to $3,000 more by year’s end. Get ready NelNet (my loan servicer), some massive payments are coming. Oh, and on top of that, I won’t be needing any student loans next semester! The direction is changing, and I’m ready to catalog this entire experience for you. Please subscribe and share the site! Thank you for your support and encouragement.

Your friend and less broke grad student,

Sam

Apple Pay Will Make You Pay

Apple’s agenda should scare you

The cost of being a user

You’ll pay for updates to Apple Pay

Reduced friction = increased spend