الجمعة، 23 أغسطس 2019
The “Free” Pen Problem
Recently, my family and I attended the Iowa State Fair, as is something of an annual tradition for us. We go for a lot of reasons: the flood of presidential candidates that speak at the Fair every year, the interesting demonstrations, the free concerts (of which there seem to be three or four going on at all times somewhere on the fairgrounds), the art shows, the horticulture displays, and many other odds and ends.
One large building on the fairgrounds, the Varied Industries building, is absolutely chock full of booths of various kinds. Some of them promote businesses, but many of them are reserved for state universities and various state agencies. There’s a booth for the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and University of Northern Iowa. There are booths for seemingly endless state offices and functions. There’s a booth for Iowa Public Television. There’s a booth for the Iowa Democratic Party and the Iowa Republican Party. You get the idea.
Many of these booths have various items you can pick up as you walk by, and one of the most common booth freebies is a pen that’s usually emblazoned with the contact information of the organization involved.
As we went through the building and walked by tons of booths, my son made the astute observation that I wasn’t picking up many of the free pens. It’s not exactly a secret that I love writing down my thoughts by hand and that I love finding a bargain, so why wasn’t I grabbing all of these free pens?
The answer is pretty simple. Most free pens don’t do their job very well. They’re usually really poorly made and often won’t write when you try to get them to write. You have to shake them or scribble a bunch to get the ink flowing. Furthermore, a lot of cheap pens will have “ink explosions” if you keep them in your pocket, as I like to do. I’ve had pants just ruined by explosions of black ink in the pocket.
That’s the catch: free isn’t always free.
Those “free” pens come with a number of costs. For starters, they eat up time that a good pen wouldn’t. Often, when I use a cheap pen, I have to invest time just to get the ink flowing, by scribbling or shaking the pen. Sometimes, that first attempt at writing will result in a big ink blotch on the page, which often adds more time and difficulty to the situation.
Also, cheap freebie pens are much more likely to leak at a moment when you don’t want them to leak, and that adds up to another time cost and often a money cost. As I noted, I’ve had clothes ruined by cheap pens leaking unexpectedly. I’ve had huge ink blotches appear on documents that I had to re-print or spend time to replace.
A good, reliable pen doesn’t have any of those additional costs. It writes when you need it to, saving time. It doesn’t bleed all over documents, saving more time. It doesn’t ruin clothing or paper, saving money. It just does the job, and does it well.
Thus, I don’t even bother with a free pen or a super cheap pen. The additional costs that come along with it – the time lost to making it work right and cleaning up the messes, the money lost to ink leaks – drastically exceed, at least for me, the cost of buying a $1 pen that won’t have any of those problems, like a Pilot G-2 or a Uniball Signo 207. I’m not even talking about a higher end fancy pen, just a great bang-for-the-buck low end pen.
Sure, I picked up a few freebie pens, the ones that seemed like they were of reasonable quality and wrote as soon as I clicked them. However, I don’t use them for everyday use. I keep those in a drawer and give them to guests at home if they’re needed and I usually just tell them to keep them. I might toss one or two in a game box so that there’s a pen available to add up the score at the end.
This brings me to another factor: everyday use. If I used a pen maybe once a week, didn’t carry one in my pocket, and didn’t rely on them multiple times a day, then I probably wouldn’t care as much. Scribbling to get the ink flowing once a week is forgettable; scribbling like that ten times a day is frustrating. Having a pen leak on a document once a year isn’t a big deal; having a pen leak in your notebook once a week is a problem, and having it ever leak in your pocket is a big problem.
Here’s the big picture: “free” isn’t always the best bargain if it comes with hidden costs. A free pen clearly has some hidden costs, and thus if you use pens all the time, you’re better off paying a reasonable amount for a good pen and avoiding those hidden costs than using the “free” pen and paying those hidden costs.
A big part of frugality is figuring out those hidden costs. A trash bag that you can only fill up halfway has a hidden cost. A trash bag that leaks all over the floor has a hidden cost. Bars of soap that basically disintegrate on the soap shelf have a hidden cost. Cheap deodorant that doesn’t keep your arm pits dry has a hidden cost – you’re going to be applying lots of it and you still might stink. An early failure of an item, particularly one you rely on, is definitely a hidden cost.
You have to take into account those hidden costs when finding the true best value when buying an item. Often, it is not the item with the absolute lowest price that ends up being the true best value, because it’s often the item with the absolute lowest price that comes with a lot of hidden costs, while something a little more expensive avoids those hidden costs.
That’s the story with the free pens at the state fair. If you want a pen, you’re not going to get any cheaper than “free.” The problem is that they come with hidden costs, and if those hidden costs add up to a dollar’s worth of frustration or lost time or damaged documents or ink on your pants, then it wasn’t worth it. “Free” is too much to pay for a pen that has more than a dollar’s worth of hidden costs on average, and a cheap pen usually does, particularly if you’re a frequent and heavy pen user.
This is why I won’t buy a no-name paring knife at the dollar store, for example. It might have the lowest sticker price, but I feel pretty confident that such a paring knife is going to be packing a lot of hidden costs. It’s probably not going to keep any sort of sharpness over time; it might even be dull coming out of the package. The handle is probably poorly made, bordering on dangerous (I’ve had a blade come out of the handle of a super cheap knife before). It’s going to add up to a lot of extra time with any job you’re doing with it, particularly after several uses, and there’s a higher risk of injury, too. That’s a steep hidden cost; sure, I’m not paying as much for the knife, but if I actually use it, I’m going to be paying that extra cost. I’m simply better off doing the research and finding a good “bang for the buck” knife that doesn’t have those hidden costs.
Obviously, this means that you’re probably paying a little more up front when buying things. You’re not using the free pens from the state fair; you’re actually buying them. You’re not using the dollar store paring knife; you’re buying a somewhat more expensive one (like this $8 one) that doesn’t have the hidden costs of frustration and time and potential injury.
Buying the cheapest solution for a problem is often like going into debt. You’re not paying nearly as much up front, but you’re kicking the actual costs down the road. You’ll pay for that decision every time you use it, whether it’s scribbling trying to get ink to flow or cutting yourself due to the cheap blade or smelling atrocious because of the cheap deodorant.
The lesson of the free pen is this: do your homework, know the hidden costs, and find the actual best “bang for the buck” item instead of the one with the lowest sticker price. Sometimes, the one with the lowest sticker price will be the best “bang for the buck” item, but that’s far from a guarantee; in fact, it happens seldom enough that you shouldn’t rely on that happening and you’re better off doing a little homework.
How do you do the “homework” and figure out what’s worthwhile? I read reviews from trusted sources about everything. I rely on Consumer Reports for a lot of things and on specialty sources like The Pen Addict when looking at specific niche items. I tend to rely only on sources where people are putting their reputation on the line; Consumer Reports gets egg on their face if they botch a review, and The Pen Addict loses significant reputation if their recommendations are out of whack.
I usually look for their “bang for the buck” or “entry level” recommendations when I’m not sure what to get. If I really know the ins and outs of an item, I can narrow that down a little more, but I mostly save that for daily use items.
In the end, I’ve learned the hard way that “free” is usually not a bargain and you’re better off paying a little more for the good “bang for the buck” item than just grabbing the cheapest one. Those hidden costs will get you every time. That’s the true lesson of the free pens from the state fair.
Good luck.
The post The “Free” Pen Problem appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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Dear Penny: I’m About to File Bankruptcy. What Should I Expect?
Dear S.,
Bankruptcy has an apocalyptic effect on your credit, as you’re probably aware. It’s not uncommon to see your credit scores drop by 200 points or more.
Yes, making on-time mortgage and car payments will help boost your score gradually.
But I’m not so concerned about the hit your credit is about to take. What gnaws at me is that it sounds like you’re only worried about saving money and having cash on hand during the 24 months your lawyer estimates it will take you to rebuild your credit.
Saving money and keeping a healthy stash of cash on hand aren’t goals you save for that post-bankruptcy period when credit is really hard to access. They’re lifelong habits we all need to establish — but let’s get back to that after we talk about what happens when you file bankruptcy.
Your credit card debt will typically be discharged by bankruptcy. But even if you have a zero balance on a card, there’s a good chance your credit card company will cancel the card when it learns you file bankruptcy. Why?
Basically, a bankruptcy cancels all your contracts, including your credit card agreements. Without a contract, your credit card company can’t require you to pay back the money you charge, so it sees you as a high risk for defaulting.
So yes, it is especially important to save money now if you can, knowing that there’s a good chance you won’t be able to use a credit card in an emergency for at least a while. If you have any savings, talk to your attorney about whether your state’s laws allow you to exempt some savings from bankruptcy proceedings.
As for the impact on your credit: A Chapter 7 bankruptcy stays on your credit reports for 10 years after the date you file; a Chapter 13 drops off after seven years.
But the effect is most severe in the first year or two after bankruptcy. Your credit score can rebound long before the bankruptcy record disappears from your reports. Many people see improvements within a year or two, so the 24-month timeline your lawyer suggests sounds reasonable.
Opening a new credit card and paying off the balance in full each month will typically help, as will making on-time payments on all your accounts. After your bankruptcy is discharged — which usually takes three or four months for Chapter 7 and three to five years for Chapter 13 — you can start applying for credit again, but don’t be surprised if you’re denied at first.
There’s a good chance that you’ll need to start with a secured card, a type of credit card that requires you to put down a security deposit and use that as credit.
But now is not the time to be thinking about credit cards. Your top priority is to make a budget — one in which your income exceeds your expenses and you have a category earmarked for saving. Make a plan you can stick to long after you’ve re-established credit.
I think you’re in a good position to do this: You have enough income to pay for your monthly expenses, and it sounds like you’ll be able to keep your home and car in bankruptcy. You don’t need credit to survive.
When used correctly, bankruptcy can give you a clean slate. If you replace the patterns that got you into debt with healthy new habits, like spending less money and saving each month, you will get through this — and your finances will be so much stronger.
Robin Hartill is a senior editor at The Penny Hoarder and the voice behind Dear Penny. Send your questions about debt to AskPenny@thepennyhoarder.com.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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If You Struggle to Save Money, Switch to This Bank Before Your Next Paycheck
You’ve heard a million ways to trick yourself into saving: A vision board. A good-old-fashioned piggy bank. Or one of those apps that lets you save a little at a time. By the end of the year, you have a whole $20 saved up.
Yeehaw. Try not to spend it all in one place.
But we talked to one guy with a different story. In just nine months, Samuel Demeny was able to save $1,250 — without even thinking about it.
His method? Banking with Chime.
Sign up in 5 Minutes and Save Effortlessly
Chime is a free online bank that gives you two easy ways to save your money.
First, if you’re looking to save big — or bigger — it gives you the option to put 10% of your direct-deposit paycheck into savings. That means each time you get paid, you’ll save a chunk of money automatically. What you don’t see, you don’t miss, right?
Second, if you want to start smaller, Chime has a round-up option that’ll bump your debit-card purchases up to the nearest dollar and save the spare change. It’s basically a digital piggy bank. You’ll be surprised how quickly several cents here and there add up.
Using these tools, Demeny saved $1,250 in just nine months. That’s enough to buy a new MacBook. Book a flight to Europe. Boost your emergency savings. Buy four shares of Netflix stock.
Demeny and his boyfriend, though, planned to use the money to help fund their cross-country move to Seattle — instead of charging expenses to credit cards.
“We can pay for a lot of things up front, because we both use Chime, and the money’s saved,” Demeny said.
Opening a Chime bank account takes five minutes, and you get access to its checking and savings accounts — and those awesome automatic savings features.
Yup… you can go ahead and toss out that vision board now ’cause saving money just got a lot easier.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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Should you borrow money from a DIY store?
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We’d like a 0% credit card to fund our renovations. Which one is best for us?
We are undergoing a renovation project on our home. We need to borrow some money to help fund the project and would like to do this on a 0% credit card. Which one would you recommend?
The cheapest option would be a credit card offering a 0% interest term on purchases, whereby if you repay in full before the promotional period ends there is no interest or fees to pay.
The longest 0% duration at the time of writing is with Barclaycard Platinum and MBNA (both 27 months). But please note you must make at least the minimum repayment each month otherwise you will forfeit the 0% offer.
You are not restricted to making a single purchase but are free to make as many purchases as you need as long as you remain within your credit limit – just remember once you take the card out, the clock starts ticking.
So, for example, if you made a purchase three months after receiving your card you would only have 24 months remaining at 0% on the amount of that particular purchase.
If you need the money for a builder who doesn’t accept credit card payments then look for a credit card that offers a 0% money transfer facility – it’s similar to a 0% balance transfer but enables you to transfer the money from the card into your bank account rather than to repay another card.
The latest Virgin Money deal offers 0% on money transfers for 20 months, but beware there is a fee of 4% payable on the sum transferred. Again, please note you must make at least the minimum repayment each month or you will forfeit the 0% offer.
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