GO GREEN, GET GREEN: RECYCLING ELECTRONIC$

So you sprung for a brand new cellphone, gaming device, digital camera, computer. Whatever. Congratulations. Use it in good health.

Now you have to get rid of your old one.
You can’t just throw it away. That would be just plain wrong.
You could put it on Craigslist.
You could donate it to a charity.
You could give it to a nephew or a neighbor.
But we don’t have to tell you how to give things away.
You already know how to do that.
Besides, we’re here to make you some money.

Think RECYCLE.
It’s the right thing to do.
It’s the smart thing to do.
It’s the CHEAPIOSITY thing to do.

We know that making money is a surefire incentive for you CHEAPIOSITY readers to go green. You may not make a lot of money, but a little something is better than nothing.

Before you recycle for free, we suggest you check out these sites:
http://www.gazelle.com/, https://www.venjuvo.com/index.aspx, http://www.myboneyard.com/, and http://www.techforward.com/index.php.

Most of these sites will take your device for recycling (and most will pay the postage for you) even if they won’t pay you for it. Some of these sites pay cash, some pay with gift cards or through Paypal, and some encourage you to make a charitable donation. Most provide free shipping, and some provide free packaging. If you are worried about sending a device loaded with personal information, these websites may not be for you. Most sites say they will delete your data, but there’s no way for you to really confirm that promise. Comparison shop to make sure you’re getting the most money on your transaction. Be sure to check all the website policies, terms and conditions before making your deal.

Gazelle, VenJuvo and BoneYard accept different electronics; check with each site to see what they will take. As of this publishing date:
Gazelle purchases: Cell Phones, MP3 Players, Digital Cameras, Laptops, GPS Devices, Gaming Consoles, Camcorders, Satellite Radios, and Portable Hard Drives.
VenJuvo accepts: Game Systems MP3 Players, Digital Cameras, GPS Systems, Laptops, and HDTVs.
MyBoneYard will recycle your: Music Players, Laptops, Cell Phones, PC Systems, and Flat Panel Monitors.

TechForward works a little differently. Consumers pay a fee in advance to ‘lock in’ a buy-back price they promise to pay you in the future. Make sure you read all the terms and conditions and remember to contact them in the future when you upgrade your equipment because you’re paying them a nonrefundable fee upfront. While there is no penalty incurred if you don’t recycle through TechForward, they keep your upfront fee. Caveat emptor.

And if all this just seems like too much of a hassle, you can find out where you can take your electronics for recycling locally by checking this website: http://www.mygreenelectronics.org/

Think green.

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FABULOUS FREEBIES 2008

Kiplinger.Com has listed 30 free goods and services for their readers.

Since we here at CHEAPIOSITY can't do any better than FREE, here's the link:

http://www.kiplinger.com/features/archives/2008/08/freebies_2008_list.html

Did we mention? It's all FREE.
Which happens to be our all-time favorite price point.

Enjoy.

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SEPTEMBER BARGAINS

Bikes: Since the 2009 bike models start arriving in September, many bike stores discount last year's models. True biking afficianados may appreciate the improvements, but we biking muggles can save a bundle buying older stock. Merchants need to floor room.


Major Appliances: Like bikes, the new models debut at stores in September and October. Unlike bikes, old major appliances take up large amounts of floor and warehouse space. Savvy shoppers can find deeply discounted appliances if they're willing to settle for state of last year's art.


Housewares: As houseware companies launch their Fall/Winter lines, be on the lookout for sales on Summer lines. Do you detect a theme?


Grills: Barbeque season ends after Labor Day, so look for major markdowns on grills.

Small Electronics: In the fall, many manufacturers release at least one new product....pay attention and watch prices drop on last year's model.


Trees, shrubs and perennials: Most nurseries don't want to hold onto these until the Spring, so pick up bargains now while the ground is still warm.

Wine: Starting in September, wine makers will be releasing wine from last year's harvest, so look for price reductions particularly in the high supply wines.


So…the CHEAPIOSITY bottom line. Ride your new slightly outdated bike. Replace your older major appliances and housewares with last year's models. (Don't replace major appliances for nw bells and whistles. Be environmentally responsible, and hang onto them until it makes sense to replace them.) Cook outside in the fall and winter on your new grill. If it's miserable out there, your stash of cheap wine will keep you warm, and new plants will provide cover from any inclement weather. Oh, and use your savings to treat yourself to a new-ish phone.


If you're the kind of person who needs the latest and greatest to boost your ego and impress other people with your blatant “I stood in line to pay retail” consumerism, face it right now. You are reading the wrong blog.

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CHEAP TEXTBOOKS

It’s that time of year. College students are heading back to campus, taking most of their parents’ hard-earned money with them. After ponying up for tuition, room and board, there’s one more big outlay to start off every semester – the textbooks. While a parsimonious parent conceivably could convince his or her progeny to take classes that don’t require any reading, this little economy might ultimately impact negatively on the student’s quality of education.

Brace yourself for some serious sticker shock. A college student typically spends an average of $700 to $1,100 on textbooks annually. The market for new textbooks is estimated at $3.6 billion this year. According to a 2005 report by the Government Accountability Office, the price of textbooks nearly tripled between 1986 and 2004, rising an average of 6 percent a year. (During this same period, inflation rose a mere 3 percent a year.) In California, the state auditor reported last week that textbook prices have skyrocketed 30 percent in the past four years. WOW! Last month, Congress passed legislation forcing textbook publishers to release more information about their prices. The legislation also requires selling textbooks separately rather than packaged with a companion CD or workbook that makes for a more expensive purchase. However, these provisions will not take effect until 2010.

Here at CHEAPIOSITY, this kind of information turns our stomachs (and simultaneously drains our family coffers – a founding staffer’s daughter is back East matriculating in private college as you read this post) so we’ve sent our crackerjack staff out to the worldwide web to bring you some alternative solutions that will help you and your almost-grown yard-apes. After negotiating your financial aid package, you can hardly bargain-shop on the big-ticket elements of higher education like tuition, room and board, but you might be able to save some serious moolah on textbooks.

Electronic Textbooks:

Six of the major textbook publishers (including McGraw Hill, Pearson, Cengage, etc) have started a website, http://www.coursesmart.com/, which sells subscriptions to digital copies of textbooks. You purchase subscriptions for the length of time needed, and there’s a limitation of how many pages you can print, and they can’t be returned. www.flatworldknowledge.com/ offers free online textbooks and charges students fees to download or print them. Also take a look at http://www.ichapters.com/ and http://www.springer.com/. Check individual publishers to see if they have eTextbook sites, as well as http://www.cafescribe.com/, and don’t forget to ask your college bookstore if they offer access to eTextbooks.

Price Comparison Sites:

Since almost anything can be bought online these days, take a look at price comparision search engines specific for textbooks, like: http://www.bigwords.com/, http://www.cheapesttextbooks.com/, http://www.booksprice.com/, http://www.half.com/, http://www.bookholders.com/ for both new and used books. Let’s not forget Barnes & Noble (http://www.bn.com/) or Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/) or eBay (http://www.ebay.com/).

Textbook Rentals:

When their school term is over, most students head back to the bookstore see what they can get for their unwanted books.

Another solution is to rent textbooks. At sites like: http://www.chegg.com/, http://www.bookrenter.com/, and http://www.campusbookrentals.com/, students pay as little as a third of the retail price and then return it at semester’s end. Buying a used book can be even cheaper than renting so compare prices before making your decision. Remember too that renting may not include supplementary materials like workbooks or CDs, so know exactly what you’re renting. Finally, keep in mind that you are renting the book. You must return the book in good condition or you will have to buy it outright. If you habitually tend to go highlighter-crazy or break the spines or dog-ear pages, renting might not be the ideal system for you.

Free Downloads:

Yes, you can actually get free textbooks to download. Sites like,: http://www.freeloadpress.com/ offer free downloads by selling advertising to supplement their costs. Sites like http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page have over 25,000 titles. These titles are older or out of copyright texts. The problem with these sites is lack of selection, but it’s definitely worth a look.


The Bottom Line:

Remember to comparison shop. Sometimes it’s cheaper to buy used then to rent. Know what you’re buying or renting….does your purchase include the workbook or CD you need? Maybe you want to buy a used textbook and a new companion workbook. Mix and match, buying only what you need and avoiding bundled items if you don’t need them.

If you do buy textbooks, used or new, take it easy on them. Condition counts.

You can always sell them at your student bookstore or online with a click of your cursor on an online site like: Amazon. (For busy students, Amazon has even come up with an even easier system to sell all your unwanted textbooks called EasySell. You ship them the textbooks you don't need any more, and, for a nominal charge, they sell and ship them for you.)

Think of it as recycling with benefits. Think green. As in dollars and the environment.

UPDATE AS OF 9/2009: Take a look:
http://www.usnews.com/education/paying-for-college/articles/2009/09/02/4-ways-to-get-college-textbooks-free.html?PageNr=1

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PREMIUM OUTLETS

In keeping with our motto of living a first class life at economy prices, we thought we should talk about buying high end items. (Here at CHEAPIOSITY, we’re not really high end clothing shoppers. We wear our CHEAPIOSITY uniforms to work in the testing lab, and we express ourselves on Casual Fridays, and of course once a year, we break out the good stuff for the office Christmas party. That said, it is our understanding that some people actually enjoy spending big bucks on designer clothing and other big name big ticket brands. We can only assume that such really big spenders might enjoy their purchases even more if they got really big bangs for their really big bucks. Hence, this post.) High end bargains can be found in the USA and around the world. And we have scoped them out especially for you.

Bear in mind that this post is only focusing on high end items, so don’t write us that we left out your favorite outlet mall. (You never write. You never call. Is it something we said?)

The first place to look is http://www.premiumoutlets.com/centers/; these are Premium Outlet Malls both in the USA and parts of Asia and Mexico City. They are pretty well spread out throughout the US, so it may be worth an outing to the one nearest you. If you find yourself in Tokyo or other Japanese cities, or Seoul, Korea, you’ll find high end bargains galore.

When in Milan, Italy, it would be well worth your while to visit http://www.marni-international.com/. There, you will find discounts of 50%, but you don’t have to travel as far as Milan to find Marni. They have stores in many other countries where deflated dollars and inflated Euros go farther. Also in Milan, check out: D’Magazine (http://www.dmagazine.it/). This outlet is in the Fashion District, and on a good day, you’ll find Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, and Gucci at up to 90% off. Still have room in your bag for more bargains? 50 kilometers from Milan, on the Italian/Swiss border is Foxtown (http://www.foxtown.com/) in Mendrisio, Switzerland. Not only are there outlet stores (Dior to YSL), but restaurants and a casino to keep you busy. (Don’t mind us; we’ll be back here, thrift shopping, eating leftovers from TGIFriday’s, and buying Lotto tickets. Sigh.)

If Prada (www.prada.com) is your thing and you’re in the area, a trip to Montevarchi, Italy may be in order. There you’ll find discounts of 50% or more. Now, don’t get confused, the Prada outlet is called Pellettieri d’Italia. Non-Prada-philes may ask why. Well, little ones, before Prada was Prada, Miuccia Prada’s fashion house was known as Pellettieri d’Italia, and they kept the name for the outlet. You will also find discounts on their second-tier line Miu Miu. The outlet store is in the Tuscany region of Italy, 45 minutes to an hour's drive from Florence.

Now that you’ve traversed Italy, you’re looking damn good. Time to trek north to Helsinki, Finland and do a little something special for your house. You don’t want your house to feel neglected, do you? Check out Helsinki’s famous Arabia Kitchen and Bath outfitters? http://www.arabia.fi/. There you find discounts up to 70% off on everything including the kitchen sink. They even have a shipping service to help you shlep it all home to wherever.

While the fabled bargains in Hong Kong are not what they used to be, it would be worth a trip to Joyce Warehouse at Horizon Plaza for find discounts on designer clothes starting at 40% off.

Well, there you have it. While no list can be all-inclusive, this is a good place to start for some of the best high end outlets around the world. Happy shopping! Drop us a postcard. Sniff.

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AUGUST DEALS

Unless you live in total isolation and haven't seen a newspaper, circular or TV, you have already realized that it's BACK TO SCHOOL sale time. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that August's the ideal month to stock up on school and office supplies, clothing, furnishings for dorm rooms and student apartments, school related electronics and computers. If it's school- related, now's the time to buy it.

We miss our school days...buying our new Buster Browns for fall, shopping for our school wardrobe and fighting with our moms in the Sears dressing room, wondering who our teacher might be, worrying about missing the school bus on the first day, plotting how to keep the schoolyard bully from stealing our lunch money, choosing just the right lunchbox and notebook -- cool enough to fit in yet ironic enough to amuse our close friends all year long. Maybe we're actually relieved to have survived the trauma. But we digress. As is our custom.

In the retail world, summer is over*, so look for clearance sales on summer-oriented items from bathing suits, clothes, to outdoor grills. Retailers need space for the fall items, and you can still get a couple months use out of them this year what with our new and vastly unimproved Crazy World Weather. (Oh sure, President Bush, there's no such thing as global warming. Let's call it global weirding.)

*In the real world, summer is almost over so it's high time to lower those standards and have that last desperate romantic summer fling. Summer isn't summer without some regrets.

August is our Nation's harvest time, so make it a point to visit a Farmer's Market or stop at a roadside stand or just take advantage of the abundancy of fresh produce on sale at your local supermarket. Of course, if you want to be really cheap like we are, this is the perfect time to start canning and freezing the fresh produce for the winter. We're sure that's what domestic goddess and icon of home and hearth Martha is doing right now. (Bringing in the harvest singlehandedly and canning for the winter wearing a cunning little apron she sewed herself and a hat she wove out of twigs and berries. How festive.)

Do you know what Peridot is? Yeah, we didn't either until we Googled it. It's August's birthstone, it's green, and many Jewelers have them on sale for gifts this month.

Finally, there are less than 150 days before Christmas. (Before you get your P.C. panties in a bunch, Chanukah starts December 21, and Kwanzaa is December 26.) But who's counting? We're counting. Call us crazy, but here at CHEAPIOSITY, we plan ahead so the financial bite of our overwhelming generosity doesn't kill us in December and January. It's never too soon to start thinking about the holidays. The stores are already decked out in full-on Halloween. Time flies in the marketplace. Our year tumbles to a close, accelerating exponentially. So start your smart holiday gift-buying now.

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HOW TO FIX YOUR CREDIT

A few months ago, we taught you how and why to handle your own Identity Security without paying a third party to handle it for you.
http://cheapiosity.blogspot.com/2008/03/identity-security-stamps.html

Now there’s a new trend. Companies are offering to Fix Your Credit, and their fees can reach the thousand dollar range or higher. Once again, with a little help from your good friends at CHEAPIOSITY, you can do it yourself for FREE. Safer, cheaper, and better. When these companies claim to “fix your credit”, basically what they’re saying is that they will help you raise your Credit Score. Your Credit Score is also referred to as your FICO score. We’ve all heard that term without really knowing what it means. FICO stands for Fair Isaac & Co., the firm that created this credit rating system now widely used by lenders of all stripes for a quick read on your creditworthiness.

Complaints against credit repair companies have risen for three straight years, increasing more than 38% since 2004 according to the Better Business Bureau, so buyer beware.

While the FICO system is widely used, it’s far from perfect. Good lenders use it as a starting point, and each one has their own ideas about how high your score should be. They may also base their decision on other information not contained in the score — like how long you’ve lived at your current address or held your current job.

In general, you’ll pay higher interest rates the lower your score. In theory, the lower your score, the higher the risk to the lender that you won't pay the loan back. FICO scores range from 300 to 850; the median score is 723. To get the best rates, you’ll usually have to have a score of at least low- to-mid-700s.

Your credit score is compiled from information collected by the three major consumer credit agencies, and each one calculates scores a little differently. So you probably have slightly different scores with each agency.

The first step in raising your score is to make sure the information used to calculate it is correct and up-to-date. For that, you’ll need to get copies from each credit agency; you can get one free every year by going to AnnualCreditReport.com — a Web site set up under a federal law requiring the credit agencies who collect all this information on you to give you access to a free copy of your reports once a year. You’ll see a number of other pitches out there for "free" reports; when you get to the fine print, you have to supply a credit card, sign up for a "credit monitoring" service, and then cancel after they've charged your account.

Once you get your report, look it over carefully. Are there records of past- due payments you can show you made on time? Are there accounts still listed that have been closed? Worse: is someone else’s account or address listed under your name? One good reason to check your report is to see if identity thieves have been opening accounts in your name. If you find any mistakes, write to the reporting agency and ask to have the information corrected. You should get a response within a few weeks; if not, give them a call.

So now you know what your report says about you and you’ve corrected any mistakes. Unfortunately, while the law gives you free access to your credit reports, you’ll have to pay to get your FICO score. Some lenders will provide your score when you apply for a loan. But if you want to know beforehand, you have to go to MyFico.com and pay $15.95. (You can sign up for a free 30-day trial once.)

While the exact formula for calculating your score is not public, the basics are available on the Fair Isaac & Co. Web site, along with guidance on how to raise your score. While there are companies out there selling “credit repair,” you don’t need to pay to have someone else raise your score for you. Here are the types of information the formula takes into account, how much weight it gives each category, and what you can do on your own to raise your score:

Payment history: 35 percent.
The single most important thing you can do is the simplest: Pay your bills on time. More than a third if your FICO score is based on your payment history: how often you’re late paying credit cards, car loans, mortgages and student loans. The later you are, the more you hurt your score. FYI: closing an account with late payments after you’ve paid it off doesn’t get rid of the damage to your score any faster than leaving it open.

How much you owe: 30 percent.
The next biggest chunk of the score is based on how much you owe. The simplest solution: Pay down your credit cards and other installment loans. Moving money from one card to another won’t help: you have to reduce the overall balance.

Credit issuers also look at how much of your borrowing power you’re using. Even though you’re keeping up with monthly minimum payments, if you’re at your limit on one or more cards, you’re at greater risk of getting in over your head — which will likely be reflected in your score. On the other hand, if you can get your bank to raise your limit, the extra headroom on your account should help your score.

Length of credit history: 15 percent.
This one is hard to speed up; lenders want to see a track record of timely payments. Even if you have had credit for along time, a lot of newer accounts will lower your score. That’s why closing old accounts may reduce your score: it may shortens the average length of your credit history.

If you’re just getting started, stick with one or two accounts and gradually add more. If you can get yourself added to an account of a relative with good credit, that may help. And if you have no credit history, you may want to start with a secured loan or credit card. By keeping money in a savings account with the same lender — and using it to back your loan — you’ll lower the risk to the lender, get a better rate, and start building a good payment history.

New credit: 10 percent.
Opening up a lot of accounts all at once can also hurt your score — even if you pay all your bills on time and don’t carry big balances.

You may also hurt your score if you’re constantly changing cards and chasing a lower rate. Your score can also take into account how many inquiries lenders make to credit agencies asking about your credit. Too many requests for information may mean you’re embarking on a borrowing binge. On the other hand, Fair Isaac says it doesn’t count inquiries from lenders who want to pre-approve you — without your approval. And shopping among several lenders all at once – without opening more than one account — also shouldn’t have an impact, according to the company’s Web site.

Types of credit: 10 percent.
Most people have different kids of credit — credit cards, mortgage, car loan, student loan, etc. Open-ended credit — like a credit card -- is called revolving credit because it doesn’t have a fixed number of payments. A car loan or mortgage, which does, is known as an installment loan because when you finish the payments the loan is closed. Lenders want to see how you handle both kinds of credit. But opening more accounts won’t necessarily help offset a spotty track record of payments on existing loans.

No one can erase negative information if it’s accurate.
Only incorrect information can be removed. Accurate information stays on your record for 7 years from the time it’s reported (10 years for bankruptcy). Even information about bills you fell behind on but now are paid will remain on your report for these time periods.

Credit repair services can’t ask for payment until they’ve kept their promises. Federal law also requires credit repair services to give you an explanation of your legal rights, a detailed written contract, and three days to cancel. (This applies to for-profit services, not to non-profit organizations, banks and credit unions, or the creditors themselves.)

Be cautious about emails for credit services.
Many unsolicited emails are fraudulent.

You can add an explanation to your report. If there is a good reason why you weren’t able to pay bills on time (job loss, sudden illness, etc.) or you refused to pay for something because of a legitimate dispute, give the credit bureau a short statement to include in your file.

Know that you can’t create a second credit file. Fraudulent companies sometimes offer to provide consumers with different tax identification or social security numbers in order to create a new credit file. This practice, called “file segregation,” is illegal, and it doesn’t work.

If you have credit problems, get counseling. Your local Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) can provide advice about how to build a good credit record. The CCCS may also be able to make payment plans with your creditors if you’ve fallen behind. These services are offered for free or at a very low cost. To find the nearest CCCS office, call toll-free, 800-388-2227, or go to http://www.nfcc.org/.

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