Does Car Insurance Cover Tire Damage?

by Michael on Jun 19, 2013 · 3 comments

Photo of a Flat Tire

Over the past week or so, I’ve been having a run of bad luck with cars. Not long after I got my speeding ticket, I suffered a flat tire.

I had driven to the airport and all seemed well when I parked and headed to my flight. But, upon my return, my tire was dead flat.

Upon closer inspection, I discovered it had been punctured by a screwdriver and it wouldn’t hold air. I thus had no choice but to put on the mini-donut spare tire and limp my way home. The next day, I took it to the tire shop and learned that it was beyond repair.

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Spend Less Than You Earn

by Michael on Jun 17, 2013 · 2 comments

Photo of Financial Help on a Calculator

Perhaps the best known bit of financial advice out there is that you should “spend less than you earn.” You’ve probably heard it over and over (and over!). And for good reason.

This is a bulletproof solution to whatever financial woes you might face. And yet… So many people seem incapable of doing it.

For an extreme example, consider the case of (currently former) NFL player Chad Johnson Ochocinco Johnson… While he reportedly has assets worth a total of $4.7M, he been spending money like it’s going out of style.

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This is just a reminder that the much-loved Google Reader will shutting down on Monday, July 1st. That’s just two short weeks from now. Thus, if you’re still using Google Reader, time is short to find a replacement. Don’t wait ’til it’s too late!

The best alternative that I’ve found is The Old Reader. It’s been around for about a year, and it’s quite nice. The layout is based on the original Google Reader (hence the name) so, if you’re a Reader refugee, it should be quite familiar to you.

The transition process is easy. You can export your feeds using Google Takeout and then import the subscriptions.xml file into The Old Reader. And if you end up hating The Old Reader, you can always export your feeds from there and move on.

I should also point out that you can get my articles via e-mail…

Many of you are already e-mail subscribers. To those who aren’t, you can get the full-text of everything that I write in a daily (at most) e-mail. If you’d prefer fewer messages, you can switch to weekly summaries. You can get started at this link.

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Discover it Card

As with Citi and Chase, it’s time for Discover cardholders to enroll in the new bonus reward categories for summer 2013. Details can be found below.

As a reminder, Discover (and others) adopted rotating reward categories a few years ago. This means that you can get 5% cash back on select purchases, but only if you manually enroll for the latest offer each quarter.

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Chase Logo

Do you have a Chase Freedom credit card? If so, it’s time re-enroll for their bonus reward categories.

As a reminder, Chase (and others) adopted rotating reward categories a few years ago offering 5% cash back on select purchases, but you have to re-enroll quarterly.

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Citi Logo

Unlike the situation with Discover and Chase, I haven’t been able to find a yearlong calendar of bonus reward categories for the Citi Dividend card.

They have, however, announced their bonus categories for the current (summer) quarter, which runs from July 1st through September 30th.

Winter 2013: The winter 2013 categories, which ran from Jan 1 – Mar 31, included drugstores, fitness clubs, and purchases from Zappos.com.

Spring 2013: The spring 2013 categories, which ran from Apr 1 – Jun 30, included home furnishing stores and home/garden stores.

As a reminder, Citi (and others) adopted rotating reward categories a few years ago, meaning that you can get 5% cash back on select purchases. The downside is that you have to re-enroll in the program each quarter.

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Income Tax Underpayment Penalties

by Michael on Jun 12, 2013 · 2 comments

IRS Logo

At the end of last week, I mentioned that estimated tax payments for the second quarter of 2013 are due soon.

As I noted in that post, these payments are intended to help you avoid income tax underpayment penalties if you have income that isn’t subject to withholding (self-employment, investing, etc.).

In short, if you don’t pay enough into the income tax system during the year, the IRS can penalize you when it comes time to file your return. So who’s subject to these penalties and how can you avoid them?

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Effects of a Speeding Ticket

by Michael on Jun 11, 2013 · 4 comments

Photo of Cop With Radar Gun

Over the weekend, I got a speeding ticket. According to the deputy who pulled me over, I was going 65 mph in a 45 mph zone.

The worst part is that I got busted in a known speed trap — a short stretch of highway where the speed limits drops from 55 mph to 45 mph and then goes right back up.

While the ticket will eventually show up online, I found myself near the courthouse yesterday so I thought I’d stop in to find out how much this will cost me. No, those details aren’t included on the citation.

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