When to Refinance Made Stupid

Frugal Friday Forever

Because we are always frugal here at BadMoneyAdvice global HQ, it is always Friday.

First, an apology. We have not managed to post our round-up of doings in the frugalosphere for a while. The cost of the extra electricity required to conduct our research was exceeding our frugal-by-choice budget limits. But now that we have our new-to-us steam turbine generator in the backyard up and running (it burns toilet paper tubes, egg cartons, and dryer sheets for fuel) we are back in business.

But where to start? How about birth? If you are thinking about reproducing, you might want to read Shopping Detox’s analysis Which are most frugal: cats, dogs, or babies? Spoiler alert: it is cats.

If you take that lesson to heart, you might be looking for frugal contraception. Of course, the the most frugal method is abstinence, something that comes naturally to many frugalists. But condoms are a good second choice and Wise Bread’s Mikey Rox points out that there is really no reason to pay for them.

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Credit Cards, Debit Cards, and Crazy Americans

As I have written several times in the past (e.g. here and here) there seems to be no subject on which I am more out of step with normal folks than those plastic cards, credit and debit, that we all use to buy stuff.

In the past I have politely implied that this is a failing of mine, that I am just too old or too dense to understand what everybody else does. I hope nobody was fooled by that. I really think I may be the last person in America who can think clearly about plastic.

A few weeks ago, SmartMoney ran a round-up of the best credit card deals. The listing of best offers for the various categories of credit cards was fine, but the introductory gloss managed to encapsulate just about all the craziness (and I do mean craziness) that clouds thinking about cards in America.

… credit cards have lately emerged as the surprise champs, offering fewer fees and better rewards than the typical debit card.

Surprise to who? As far as I know, credit cards, in general, have always had lower fees and better rewards than debit.

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Light Bulb Math

I should probably come clean right at the start of this and admit that I have a thing about energy saving light bulbs. You might call it a pet peeve. What bothers me about them is not that they give off light of a slightly different hue than I am used to. Nor do I have any reason to believe that they do not use less energy, as advertized.

What drives me up the wall is the pious focus on them as a great green savings of energy and/or money. A focus which some years ago resulted in the federal government actually banning the old-fashioned Edison bulb.

Do not get me wrong. I agree that switching to energy saving bulbs will save energy. My point is that it will save only a tiny amount of energy. An amount that really only works as a symbolic act, and symbolism is in the eye of the beholder. What some may see as a visible sign that we love the planet is for me a sign we are governed by innumerate twits. I am here referring to both our politicians and the citizens who elect them.

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Are Timeshares a Good Idea?

Yes. If you can arrange bridge financing, they are a great way to pay off the construction of your new resort. You will have to hire a sales staff and wait a few years to sell the full inventory, but when it is done you will have made a tidy profit.

What’s that? You meant is it a good idea for a consumer to buy a timeshare? Oh.

No. It isn’t.

I am reminded of this by a recent item at SmartMoney telling us how the prices for some second-hand timeshares, that is, those owned by consumers who now want out, have dropped to $1. They are not so much for sale as up for adoption, free to a good home. Given the annual fees involved, that is not as illogical as it might sound, but it is a stark contrast to the five figure sums those consumers were dazzled into paying just a few years ago.

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