I Thought We Were in the Middle of a Credit Crisis?

I was under the mistaken impression that credit was getting scarce in the U.S. credit market. I have mistakenly believed the news when they say that we're at a point where free money is over and credit will be more difficult to obtain.

I'm not sure if this supports this or disproves this, but I got an email from American Express to pimp out my friend's email address in an effort to earn $25. The email reads:

“Show your friends what Blue Cash from American Express can do for them, and you can earn a $25 Statement Credit for each friend approved. “

So let me get this right - The credit industry is in shambles and my credit card issuer wants to pay me money to solicit more people to get more credit - just in time for Christmas? Isn’t this how we got here in the first place?

BTW – Don’t be surprised to get an email from me asking you to sign up for an Amex card – but it’s completely unrelated to this…

Dealing with a Credit Union – I couldn't make this stuff up

I just had to chronicle my experience with the State Department Federal credit Union. These guys were just goofy…

When I went to get a motorcycle loan I checked out their rates (admittedly this was at the beginning of the credit crunch). I saw they offered a new loan rate of 4% which was way under the others I was looking at – so I decided to go with them (blindly assuming of course they would give me a loan). Of course in order to apply for a loan, you have to be a member.

So I called the Credit Union while I was surfing their site and I was connected to a nice lady who asked me “What makes you think that you can be a member?” Fair enough question I guess – so I answered that I was a military person stationed at an embassy overseas. She put me on hold for two minutes and came back to say the only way a military member can join the SDFCU is if they were stationed on Fort McNair (DC). When I pointed out to her that on their website it specifically states an eligible category is "U.S. military employees assigned to a U.S. Embassy overseas" the line went silent... Then she said I should probably go ahead and register on the website because she couldn't help me.

Maybe at this point I should have run screaming.

So I applied online - but it wasn't that easy. Even though they took my $99 as an initial deposit - they said I had to wait 24 hours for the account to be created before I could even apply for a loan... Is this one of the reasons that banks fail?

That was 15 October when they took my money. I called 16 October and she said – it would take more time. I got distracted and didn’t call back until the 27th of October – They told me my account would be established that day. The next day I called back and said I wanted my money back – They apologized again and that night I got a personal email from some supervisor with his apologies. The next day I had an approved account, so I finally applied for that loan. In those two weeks that I was waiting, their loan rates had gone up by 1% so now that same loan was going to cost me 5% vice 4%. Of course…

So I applied for the loan and submitted it. To my surprise they got back to me the next day. They had tentatively approved the loan, but wanted me to provide the following additional information (pasted exactly):

1. PURCHASE ORDER.
2. LOAN APPLICATION AND OPEN END AGREEMENT.
3. ACCEPTABLE INCOME DOCUMENTATION.
3. Verify approximate term of 24, 36, 48, or 60 months (72- or 84-month car loans are available with a minimum sticker or retail value of $25,000 at a higher annual percentage rate). There are no prepayment penalties.
4. DISBURSEMENT INSTRUCTIONS.
5. AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE INFORMATION
6. WE NEED TO KNOW THE REASON FOR THE 5 INQUIRIES ON THE CREDIT REPORT IN THE PAST 6 MONTHS.

Most of the above is standard – I did wonder why they used the number three twice (and why the second number three only got lower case billing) and then I started to wonder who purchases insurance first and then goes out shopping for a vehicle and if it was my income that had to be acceptable, or just the proof of income that needed to be acceptable. So many questions...

The oddest request was number six (really seven but who’s counting). Ignoring that this woman was ‘yelling’ at me by using all caps but her note really made me want to reply with:

“Dear Ms. X: The reason that you see five different credit inquiries is that I decided to shop around for an auto loan instead of taking the first offer I received. You see – I am not a moron.” But I didn’t. I sent the information back and assumed they would mail a check the next day or so. Then the next day I got this email back:

“Good Afternoon,

Prior to disbursement we normally require a VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) for the vehicle we are financing. We will make an exception in this case as long as you agree to be responsible for the payments even though you do not have possession of the vehicle at this time and you will provide us with the VIN# as soon as possible.”

Holy crap!! My social security number and my signature on the loan paperwork wasn’t good enough – now I have to make a pinkie promise, via email, that I’ll be responsible for paying back the loan?!? Seriously – This has to be the reason banks are going under – forget the contracts and just send us an email saying that you swear to pay us back, okay??

At first I thought they might talk to all their clients like this, then it dawned on me they might think they need to talk a little slower because I’m military and not State Department… Oh yeah - I went there.

So they did finally mail out the check – and yes, keeping with my email promise I even began to repay them, but last week I received the quaintest little package via snail mail – They sent me a payment booklet. You know – a little stapled booklet (like the kind my son makes in art class) with 12 pieces of paper that lets me record the check number and the date I mailed the check to the bank. It even had the due dates for the next 12 months so I wouldn’t forget.

I now firmly believe that the payment booklet is the reason that banks are going out of business. In the year 2008, this antiquated Credit Union printed and mailed a personalized booklet to me - halfway across the planet - so that I would remember to make my payments on-time. They might as well have pinned my mittens to my jacket! The time and effort to do such a thing, multiplied by the thousands of customers they have must be an extraordinarily unnecessary cost. I haven’t written a paper check to anyone but the embassy cashier in the last three years and neither have a lot of people I know. If you as a banking institution, are not setting yourself up for direct deposits...

This was way longer than I expected – and I’m ragging on them pretty hard, but I feel like I’m dealing with a Mom and Pop shop that sells licorice in the back next to the soda machine. I’m amused if nothing else – and they're not all bad -The do have a fancy internet site and everything.

Getting a loan these days...

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you're probably familiar with the current 'crisis' int he credit and banking systems, and I think we’ve all heard about how banks are failing and going bankrupt and how we're all going to suffer right? Hearing the presidential debates I was convinced I was never going to get another loan again.

Is it just me or does this remind anyone else of when the airlines were going under and the Government bailed them out? When that happened, it seemed like someone flipped a switch and a large percentage of airline employees became extraordinarily grumpy overnight. I assumed at the time it was because they were fearful or angry they were going to lose their jobs. It might be just me, but I’m certain I’m seeing something similar now with the banking industry.

Several weeks ago my 17-year old Suzuki motorcycle looked like it was gone – broken beyond [reasonable] repair. I, being the person I am, quickly ran through the five stages of grief and then bought a brand new 2009 Harley Davidson Sportster XL1200L. Yeah, it’s sweet.

In order not to drain my savings or the kid’s college money, I decided to shop around for a loan. My thinking was that looking for a measly $15,000 loan ought to be a piece of cake – heck I should have banks flocking to me right? Yeah, not so much.

I went to five places:

USAA - My trusted bank of most of my adult life. They offered me 6.74% interest, but they were dodgy about the paperwork requirements. Two weeks later I called to find out where the draft check was (supposed to be mailed) and the man on the other end snapped "It's just been sitting here waiting for you to call us back". Something about his tone turned me off - so I declined the loan and moved on.

Next I tried Capital One for a loan. I applied over the phone and the guy on the other end sounded nice enough, but seemed like he was annoyed to answer my questions and I had lots of questions. When I asked why I was offered 5.87% interest rate over the 5.47% rate listed on the web site, he point blank told me that rate was for people with better credit. Well excuse me! Turns out Capital One dosen't consider a motorcycle a vehicle - so that ended that search, but they would not have gotten my business either.

Next up was Navy Federal Credit Union. They approved my motorcycle loan for 6.5% APY, but right before I agreed to the deal, they dropped a bombshell - They would only approve my loan if I took my wife's name off the title. Apparently they had a problem that my wife did not have an income - even though her credit score is like 30 points higher than mine. I told them to pound sand and cancelled my Navy Federal membership n the spot.

Next up was Pentagon Federal Credit union and their offer was fair and the rate was 6.49%. Getting a loan was fairly straightforward and they mailed me a draft check within days. Overall they were fine, but the whole process was quite sterile. I don't think I ever talked to a real live person.

Then I went to the ‘Dark Side’ and checked out the State Department Federal Credit Union. Overall they were a good deal. The final interest rate was 5% (should have been 4% - I’ll go on a rant next week about my experience with SDFCU). Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired, which I'll go into on a later post, but in simple terms of who offered the cheapest loan - they won by a landslide.

Now I haven’t opened up any new credit cards since the credit crisis set in, and obviously I haven’t bought any houses – but to me it seems that if you’re a good credit risk and you shop around, then there are still decent loans to be given. I mean, SDFCU gave a loan to a guy buying a motorcycle over the phone from a quasi-dealer in New York, having it delivered to Houston and then shipped directly overseas without even registering the bike! If they’ll give me a loan, then they’ll give anyone a loan – right?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Typically we Americans think of Thanksgiving as a time to be thankful for all that we have – and we think of the day after Thanksgiving as the best day to get more stuff to be thankful for!

So Happy Turkey Day – Enjoy the stuffing – and to make you feel at home – check out some of the sites tomorrow for Christmas deals and bargains. Remember, nothing says I love you to your brother-in-law, like sending him a whole stack of $1 USB cables for Christmas!

Ben’s Bargains.net - This is one of my favorite sites for finding cheap crap I don’t need. I’ve been know to buy super sized race tracks, miniature Batmen, and completely useless network cables because they were all cheap.

XP Bargains and Tech Bargains - Both are similar websites that give deals on electronic equipments mostly. Extremely helpful if you know exactly what you want - otherwise a great time waster.

Retail-Me-Not is a great website for when you get to the checkout portion of a website and it asks you for a coupon code. Surf over to this site just to see if you can get any extra cash off - I've saved quite a bit using these guys.

Turns out there are a million websites like the one above - but someone recently sent me the link for CurrentCodes.com and that looks pretty promising as well.

And lastly - if you are looking for deals online to send to relatives in The States - don't wait until Black Friday (tomorrow) or Cyber Monday next week - Poke around today after you finish you turkey - Many of the best deals that you're going to find (until December) are posted today.

Happy hunting!

Where have all the good banks gone?

Do you remember how the airlines got after 9/11? Remember when the flight attendants all of the sudden became scared that their professions just got exponentially more dangerous and combined with the uncertainty about their jobs and their future became easily agitated and seemed a bit rude?

I think I'm seeing the same thing now that the credit crisis has really set in. In the last couple of weeks I've dealt with several different banks looking for a modest loan for another motorcycle at the house of the Thrifty Expat.

To my surprise the people at the banks that I’ve been dealing with are generally not friendly. I turned down a loan from my bank (who I have this insane loyalty to) because the guy on the other end was just a little rude. I turned down another with a lower interest rate because they refused to issue me a co-signed loan with my wife (who for the record, has a better credit score than I do).

This of course means very little in the grand scheme of things. The rates for borrowing are going up (one percent in the last 3 weeks that I have noticed) while the prime interest rate is going down. Someone explain that one to me! The Federal Government is infusing banks and lending institutions with money, but their standards for loaning out seem to be tightening up.

I'm not just talking about big banks - I'm talking about Credit Unions and member-only banks that appear to be circling their wagons and keeping their money to themselves. I just wonder exactly how long this is going to go on for.

The Language Tax

In the almost 11 years I’ve spent overseas, I've noticed a phenomenon that I haven't seen addressed anywhere else. For lack of a better term - I call it "The Language Tax".

The language tax is when you pay more for something because you don't know how to get the better deal because: You don’t speak the language!

As much as I'd like to think I'm cheap enough to always find the better deal, I know that I pay too much for some things, and I just don't know how to fix it.

It almost happened to me again at the mall a couple of weeks ago. My wife was buying matching clothes for this year’s family Christmas photo (I think I was pressed against the glass front of the store with a please-save-me look), and we racked up a fairly big bill. The lady behind the counter asked if we had a discount card to the store (all in Polish), and I answered no. No is one of the few words I do know in Polish. The nice lady then asked us if we wanted to be part of the discount club and I assumed that there was a charge... Luckily while she was checking us out, I looked up and was able to ask if there was a charge or not. She said no so I said “Sure - I'll take one of those cards.” End result: 2 minutes later I saved 25% off new clothes for six people.

This also happens with most of us who don't bother to get the Skarbonka Card at Auchan and the equivalent card at Real. I know that I can save money (although admittedly I have no idea how it actually works) but I just don’t have the motivation to ask and try to fill out the little card they have.

I mean, if you don't read the language, and you don't find someone who speaks English, it's easy to just mentally calculate the anticipated cost of the purchase, get your faktura and get the heck out of there.

The negative thing here is that I have no idea how you solve this. I had to ask someone else to figure out the Skarbonka thing. 5-a-sec has a frequent shopper's card that I never bought because it supposedly saves you money – but not on everything… I’m pretty sure I’d save the money over a year, but I can’t ask the questions I want to – ‘cause I don’t speak the language.

But my biggest problem is the lack of the good old boy's hardware store. Back in Texas, if I wanted to take on a household project, I'd go down to the hardware store (Preferably Andy’s Hardware off of FM 249) with a list, and find the first knowledgeable person I could and start peppering them with questions. By the time I left the store I knew that I could go home and figure out at least how to get started on whatever it is I was working on. Here I don't have that luxury - so instead of buying the parts needed to fix the hose - I'm pretty likely to just buy a new hose.

The other thing is finding the bargains. In the states I'd check out the newspaper ads or check out the internet ads and head out to the store – Here, I’m sure I could do the same but I don’t have a newspaper subscription, and I have no idea what the Polish equivalent of BensBargains.net is.

Again, this is the by-product of a stranger living in a strange land. It's not something that I'm going to fix unless I really learn the language.

My credit score is affected by what!?!?

In these times where credit is beginning to dry up, it almost comes as no surprise that it’s possible your credit score may be hurt by the types of transactions you make. But that doesn’t make it any less infuriating.

MSN reports that the Federal Trade Commission filed a law suit against card issuer CompuCredit for using purchasing patterns as a basis for cutting credit lines for card holders who visited certain establishments such as tire and retreading shops, massage parlors, bars, billiard halls and marriage counseling offices.

Most of us are familiar with the idea that our credit scores can be used for more and more things. If your credit history is bad, in many states you might pay more in auto insurance or worse, you might not qualify for a better job; my credit score been used as a qualifier for renting an apartment for as long as I can remember. But the thought that your card issuer may restrict your credit line because you shoot pool every Thursday night is a bit disturbing.

Possibly the biggest downer is that the FTC is not suing CompuCredit because they used purchases as a determinate of their credit line, but that they didn’t disclose that they were doing it. Has anyone ever really read through their Credit Card’s disclosure statements?

So depending on how frequently you visit the club – you might want to consider paying cash. I’m not sure how that works for our overseas purchases since half of the merchant categories for everything I buy are wrong or misleading to say the least. I know that my Mokpol on the corner of my street is listed as "Speciality Merchandise". One can only guess what U.S. merchants are also labeled as "Speciality Merchandise". Good luck.

Gift Cards –

I caught this on TV yesterday – one of these Sunday finance shows…

They speculated that anyone who has a gift card from a retail merchant needs to spend them. The crux that was for a lot of the smaller stores, they may have trouble staying open after the Christmas season.

I thought it was a bunch of baloney until they pointed out that Sharper Image filed for bankruptcy and left a lot of people with worthless gift cards. I was stunned.

So if you have friend or family that send you gift cards for the holidays, I’d spend them just as fast as humanly possible. I would never have thought this was a big deal, but apparently the companies have the right to just say no! Unbelievable right?

Hopefully if you have a gift card to Wal*Mart or Target there’s little chance those companies are gong to go bankrupt– but Sharper Image was a pretty big store – Caveat Emptor!

The End of Free Money

Today, November 13th, is a milestone for me. Today I am officially debt free! Again. Sort of...
The last time I had zero dollars in revolving credit card debt was June 2004. That was back in the days when free credit was rampant and I, like many Americans, got a bazillion offers in the mail for transferring my debt to zero interest credit cards… So being a red-blooded American when I was told that I could have free-money – well yeah, hell yeah I took it.

Since that was three PCSs ago, the extra cash came in handy and I floated the monthly balances for a while instead of paying it off – taking special care never to get saddled with interest charges. Since both my credit history and the economy could float that type of banking, I always thought it was win-win.

Now I do think I got the best end of the deal. Instead of paying off that debt (approx eight grand at its peak) I rolled the debt over to new credit cards and used my free cash to roll into my TSP, make sure I paid all my other balances in full, paid cash for a car along the way… and I spent what was left over on magic beans.

I must have taken up that last zero-percent offer November last year because the offers have stopped coming. Much to my ego’s relief, it’s not because of a down-turn in my credit history, it’s across the board in the banking industry.

Now over the last several years I’ve been planning for this day and today that last payment to that last credit card is easily absorbed in the family's budget. If it would be a problem though – would there be another chance? There are a few companies that are still giving out zero-percent offers but they are few and far between and only for six months at a time – and the vast majority are now charging a lot of balance transfer fees. So all in all, that ship seems to have sailed.

The Only Four Reasons That I Still Have a Capital One Card:

Since last friday was a rant against Capital One, I only thought it fair to say some nice things about them - I was going to list ten, but I could only think of four:

4. No foreign currency transaction fees. They’re the only bank that I found so far that really doesn’t charge you foreign currency transaction fees.

3. Premium rebate on gas and [most] groceries. 2% is better than 1% and with a family of six, we do buy a lot of groceries and gas.

2. I get to pick my own picture to put on the card. Do I put a picture of my lovely wife or darling children on my card? No, I put my Suzuki VX-800 motorcycle on the front of my card!

1. Military Discounts. Just for being Active Duty Military they reduced my interest rate (purchases and cash advance) to 6%. There are no membership/annual fees, pay-by-phone fees, cash advance fees, past-due fees, over-the-credit-limit fees or returned payment fees. Any fees that I would have had amassed while on active duty would have been retroactively credited back to my account. And they reduced my monthly payment to 2% or $10 (the higher of the two) when the rest of the industry is raising theirs (although I think that has just been changed again by federal law).

As far as I see, that last one makes the Capital One card by far a better deal than USAA, Navy Federal or the Pentagon Federal Credit Union – which is a little sad.

SDFCU

The five letter acronym in the title is not a misprint (or yet another spelling error). Its the affectionate nickname for the State Department Federal Credit Union.

More on these guys later, but I'm just curious - are they really difficult to deal with for everyone, or just for people who are not DoS who are trying to establish an account?

It took over two weeks for me to establish an account, but they had no problem taking my cash on day 1... I sense a future rant coming on these guys.

Election Day

Go out and Vote!

Or if you're an expat - sit back and celebrate one of the following:

a. You already mailed off your vote and you're happy you didn't have to stand in line!

b. You completely blew your county's six-month advance registration window and it doesn't really matter now anyway!


Either way - Happy election day! May your party win, and may the winning party raise our taxes the least!

Top Ten Reasons I Hate Capital One

In an earlier post I mentioned that the best card that I found for use overseas was one offered by Capital One. Some people mistakenly thought I was endorsing Capital One as a Credit Card.
I most certainly was not. In fact - I have assembled a top ten list of the things I really can't stand about Capital One for your reading pleasure:

10. Their customer service is awful. Their phone operators in India are reading out of a script and have trouble answering questions beyond account balance and last payment history without getting a supervisor. The fact that they’re in India is not what bothers me, it’s that they can’t answer my questions without transferring me which makes the calls longer – and since I’m overseas, I’m paying for every minute.

9. Their website help-desk or “message center” is completely useless. I've sent five emails asking for clarifications about different aspects of my account and all I got back were generic, auto-response emails. Completely worthless.

8. They are not compatible with MS Money’s download service. They are like the only ones on earth who aren’t. In fairness, you do have the ability to manually download transactions, but that's a royal pain, and so 1997.

7. Their merchant categories are incomplete and confusing – at least for overseas merchants. For all grocery stores the merchant category generically reads “merchandise” and you have to drill through their website to find out if you get credit for buying at a grocery store or not. This is unnecessarily time consuming.

6. Their fraud department is unnecessarily hyper. They put a hold on my account after my first charge. I called them for something else and was transferred to the Fraud Department – The Dude asked me if I really made a purchase at a Shell station in Poland. When I said I did – he asked me “Well how long will you be staying overseas?” Dude, I live here.

5. They request letters of correspondence be sent by fax and not by email. Apparently their customer service headquarters is located in the year 1990.

4. Despite the fact I have an excellent credit history, have had previous Capital One Credit Cards, and have a really high credit limit on every other card I have – for the first three months they put me on a probationary spending limit of $2,000 a month. Are you kidding? I spend that much on gas – Just ask ACA!

3. I would bet money that when I signed up for the Cash Rewards Card they advertised 3% back. When I got the card, it said 2% - and the web site had changed. I’m not saying it’s a conspiracy, but my office mate said the same thing. I called and asked when they changed it and their only answer was “Sir, That’s the rate you’ve always had" – emphasis on the you… It is a conspiracy, I know it is!

2. After having their card for two months I applied for a Motorcycle Loan. Their lowest advertised loan was 5.47% - but they only offered me 5.87%. I asked why and was told that rate was for their best customers - Amex wants to send me a Platinum Card, but Capital One won't give me that extra .4% on a loan? They risk alienating a customer over 50 cents a month? Give me a break!

1. Every time I go to pay for something I can’t help but to imagine some hairy Viking standing next to me shouting “What’s in YOUR Wallet?”

Hurricane Ike Took Out My TV

Okay – Normally I do not think of property insurance as an investment, but get this-

In 1992 I bought a 20” TV from Radio Shack. It was a discontinued model, its price was slashed and I had an employee discount so I ended up paying about $150 for it. That TV made its way across at least three continents, had every piece broken off it you could think of, long had been separated from its remote control and only barely still worked. At some point in the last 5 years it went to live at my sister-in-law’s house as a TV for the spare bedroom.

Fast forward to this summer where Hurricane Ike took out a whole lot of power to Houston Residents. Sadly enough the Old Radio Shack TV was a victim of the power outages/fluctuation and the old set finally died. The Insurance company paid my sister-in-law $150 for the value of the TV.

My jaw dropped! I seriously can’t believe that they gave any money at all for this 16-year-old barely-working TV.

Moral of the story: Get the insurance with the replacement value. Seriously.

In a future post I'll tell the story of how The Government and USAA replaced my entertainment center when we lived in Ghana.

This will not save you any 专业提供

Okay, this might not save you any money at all - but some days you open your email and you just can't explain what you find.

This is what I found in my email:

您好!

我是厦门百惠通科技有限公司小邹，不好意思打搅您了。

我司专业提供（外贸英文网站、美国服务器、美国企业型空间）等全程服务。2008公司迎来八周年庆推出一款产品：美国企业型空间888m=888元 2008m=2008元 平均1m/1元，除此之外其他不同容量的空间一律买多大送多大，相当于甚至低于国内空间价格，优惠前所未有，限量销售（直接与美国加州机房合作并非代理）。为您呈现过硬的质量、优质的服务。

八年来我们公司主要业务为：美国企业型空间 美国服务器 外贸英文网站建设。以下是我们公司近年制作的部分网站案例

Now admittedly, my (insert name of foreign language above here) language skills are not so great, but I'm pretty sure it's the same text as the next email in my in-box this morning from Miss Rita Abed from the Ivory Coast:

"I wait for your urgent response

Dearest Beloved,

I am Mrs. Edith.R. Abed from Ivory Coast.I was married to Late Chief Mohammed Abed who was acontractor with the Government of Cote D'Ivoire before he died after few days in the hospital. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of $4.500 Million Dollars with a Bank in Cote D'lvoire. Presently this money is still in the custody of the Bank here in Cote DIvoire. My Doctor told me that it is very likely I will die within the next 3 months due to A Blood cancer {LUCAMIA}. I have decided to donate the money for charity to you since I do not have a child to inherit it and it's better I do not die leaving the money here without it reaching to the poor and the lessprivileged ones in the society. As soon as I receive your reply I shall tell my bank to transfer the money to you.Informations Required from you are: Your Full Name(.......................... )Your Direct Tel & Fax N°:(......................, )Your Home & Office addresses(..............................)Your Bank Account(..................)With these informations, I will forward them to the Bank for immediately transferring of the Funds to your Position. Please always pray for me and let God give me more Good health to stay in this World.Mrs.Edith.R. Abed"

Ms. Abed's email address is ritaabed21@gmail.com for anyone who would like to contact her -

Blu-Ray

Those of you who know me in real life, have probably heard me bring up my Blu-Ray DVD player. I usually try to bring it up in the first ten minutes of conversation.

I caught this spectacular deal on a Sony BDP-S350 before it was released (I'm convinced the AAFES website mistakenly listed a lower price) and jumped all over it as a natural compliment to my HD TV that I never get to use the HD portion for (because I'm way too cheap to buy a satellite service with HD programing).

After having it for a couple of months I cannot recommend that other people invest in Blu-Ray. Not yet anyway.

Don't get me wrong, the picture is just the best thing I have ever seen and it turns out my TV doesn't even show movies in 1080p format (which is the best on the market now). I own three BluRay movies (all animated) the picture on play-back is almost indescribable.

The cost is just stupid though. $400 is still a typical price for a Blu-Ray DVD player, with prices not expected to fall under $300 this year. Movies cost $27.99 at AAFES and at Amazon.com, although you can catch a deal when they are first released.

I'm just not sure it's really worth it. You can get great DVD players for just over $100 that up-convert "regular" DVDs and play the on high definition TVs that I've got to assume would be comparable. I don't regret the Blu-Ray player I bought, but I think our current home movie collection of Blu-Ray DVDs (which consists of the two Disney Pixar movies and one Dreamworks movie) might be as big as it gets until the prices drop. I'm using Netflix to get Blu-Ray DVD's in order to justify the purchase of the thing, but anyone who uses Netflix from here surely shares my aggravation with that process.

So - if you're thinking about buying one - you might want to check it out in person first. Oh, and if you were thinking of getting one here in Poland - you'll be irritated to know that the stupid regional encoding system that they branded DVD players with, still exists with Blu-Ray. Which means that if your player is from Europe, you pretty much have to buy the DVD's in Europe. What a scam that is.

US Cards Might Not Work Overseas

Not too long ago I stumbled upon this headline in another blog: "Why Your Credit Card Might Be Useless Overseas". I clicked through to the cited Los Angeles Times Article that highlights several portions of one man's trip through Europe where his American-issued credit cards just didn't work.

While this is unlikely to affect any of us during our tours in Poland, it does raise a good point. In Europe, many banks issue a credit card with a “pin” number and a security chip that is supposed to make using your credit card safe. This is not the same as our US-based credit cards and the cash advance PIN that some of us have on them.

This "pin card" really isn't an emerging problem in Warsaw, but there is an automated kiosk in the movie theater in Galeria Mokotow that allows you to skip the really long lines (most recently I noticed at the premiere of Mamma Mia) and buy your tickets right at the little kiosk. The problem with that kiosk is that you need that magic credit card with pin. As I was creating a line back-up, I tried two US-based credit cards with pins as well as my debit charge card that also has a pin. Nothing worked – I had to go stand in the long line.

You need that same pin card to use the automated check-out line (where the line is a thousand times shorter) at the Carrefour in Arkadia. Otherwise, and I know from personal experience, the people behind you will hate you and be tempted to throw things at the back of your head.

You'll notice everywhere else you shop, they have a little place that you can have your card swiped, or that little strange device where you put your card in and enter a pin. I think we are a very long way away from not being able to use our credit cards overseas.

Why Netflix Stinks... And Free Netlix!!

So many of us Americans overseas have some access to the U.S. Mail and most of us have DVD players.



Some of us have Netflix, and some of us are curious about it.



For those curious about it - Its worth a second look.

I pay for three DVDs at a time, and for the most part, I end up watching three movies a month. That averages out to like 5 bucks a movie - which although at first I thought ridiculous, actually is probably better than paying $27.99 (for BluRays) for a movie that I'll watch once the first night and then again a year later when there's nothing on AFN.



The only reason I signed up for the service in the first place is to get BluRay DVDs. That was it.

So I've had the service for a couple of months and while the videos are exactly what we want, the transit times are just painfully slow. What also drives me nuts is they offer a service to subscribers that streams movies to your computer... If you live in the States. And the biggest scam? I just got an email that says - and I am not making this up:



" Dear Dylan,



As you may know, Blu-ray movies are more expensive than standard definition movies. As a result, we're going to start charging $1 a month (plus applicable taxes), in addition to your monthly membership charge, for unlimited access to Blu-ray movies.



The additional charge for unlimited Blu-ray access will be automatically added to your next billing statement on or after November 5th, 2008 and will be referenced in your Membership Terms and Details. If you wish to continue getting Blu-ray movies for $1 a month more, you don't need to do anything. If not, you can remove Blu-ray access anytime by visiting Your Account at the Netflix website.



If you have questions about this change or need any assistance, please call us anytime at 1-888-638-3549.



-The Netflix Team"



So there you have it - If you watch BluRay DVDs - which is the only thing I actually use the service for - you are going to get screwed because they can squeeze an extra buck out of you.



But if you're interested - let me know -I have some free codes for the first month of service.

Free Cable!

In our little housing area down here in Konstancin, we get free cable TV - kind of.

Now I'm talking about like 8 channels with only one channel (BBC) in English (two if you count MTV2) and for the most part it's useless, but its free none-the-less.

Do you get free cable? The reason I ask is that I'm still meeting other expats in the neighborhood that have lived here for awhile and had no idea. This revolutionary information is not changing anyone's lives out here in Konstancin, but it is nice to see the local channels with a clear reception.

I've got to imagine if you live in an apartment, it's worth asking the question to the building management staff (assuming you're not enjoying it already). I would reason the same would hold true for other small gated communities.

All I'm saying is it might be worth a shot. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to watching the latest Madonna Video on MTV2 - I think its from 1987...

Ethnic Food On-Line

Sometimes you just can't get the things you're used to, locally.

There is a chain around Warsaw called Kuchnie Swiata that sells food fro everywhere. I can't read the website, but there's one in Zloty Terasy, Arkadia and one in Konstancin at the least. I had dismissed this chain until I found my favorite jalapeños from Mexico sitting on their shelf. Now I'm a fan.

Locally there are at least a couple of good Middle Eastern Markets (Samira Rocks!) and I've been told of some good Aisan markets, but have no idea where they are.

I'm also told that for mail-ordering Asian grocery items Hmart.com has a good selection of items. This is a large company based in the U.S., and since they ship via UPS (to the pouch), their shipping cost is very reasonable. For selected dry and canned goods, this is a good option.

And as long as we're talking about food websites, for those like me from the South who don't consider the Blue Cactus as real Mexican food, I use MexGrocer for buying authentic jalapeños. They're also the best source I've found for shipping out masa harina economically (if you don't know what it is- you don't need it).

Calling All USAA Members!!

This is really targeted to USAA members, but if your bank charges you fees for ATM withdrawals in different currencies, you might be interested.

I sent a short note to USAA via the message link within the site, asking them to consider reimbursing USAA Members overseas the foreign currency transaction fees up to $15 per month - the same way they reimburse ATM surcharge fees to people in the US.

The next day I received a very cordial email from USAA politely blowing me off saying they would consider my suggestion. I didn't expect anything else - it's just me complaining.

If you happen to have USAA, the next time you log in please consider hitting that little button in the top right portion of the screen that says messages and a very short email asking them to waive the first $15 in foreign currency transaction fees the same way they waive the first $15 in ATM surcharge fees? If enough people sent a short email, surely they would notice it's not just one lunatic in Poland that this affects - and I know I'm not the only one using my ATM card overseas.

Just Say No to Being Charged in USD!

I mentioned it before but was reminded again – never select a currency other than the local currency when making purchases overseas. Trust me on this!

‘Oh Sushi charged my credit card in USD the last time I went at an ROE of 2.24 (the exchange rate that day was actually 2.44!). When I became irritated, the waitress told me that the computer did it by itself; however the time before that they did ask me what currency I wanted to pay in.

I fully concede that maybe it wasn’t her fault, but we went ahead and found a new Sushi place.

Better than putting money in a mattress

Given the uncertianty of the stock market if you're looking to sock your money away somwhere safe, the Pentagon Federal Credit Union is offering 5% APY on Money Market certificates starting at three years with a minimum deposit of $1,000.00.

5% is not too shabby. You have to be a member of the PFCU but there are several ways to become a member if you're interested. The easiest way of course is to join the military :)

Car Repair Blues

Unfortunately for me, I was reminded of this money-saving tip the hard way last week:

Do you need to get your car fixed or is it due for a maintenance check-up?

Services in Poland are generally cheap(er) than the States, but the parts can be exponentially more expensive.

I deal with two different dealerships for my two POVs and both let me bring in my own parts when I turn the vehicle in to be serviced. I buy the parts off the web (usually Rock Auto or Auto Parts Warehouse) and pay less than what the same parts would cost here. I’ve never once had the dealer as much as blink when I gave them the parts to be installed - and in fact, at least once he was relieved that he didn't have to order the part.

I’ve found the price of labor is generally far less than the same service from a dealer in the States. Where did I find the dealers? Google! Turns out there is a Dodge Serwis Center that you can literally see from my house.

Good thing I have a Dodge!

Read those Polish Websites

Someone passed me a hint for those of us who don't read Polish so well that I had never heard of.
If you type the web address of a non-English web site into Google and click search, the first entry that comes up should be the website that you were looking for - and next to it should be a hyper-link that reads: [ Translate this page ]

I was blown away by the results when I click on the hyper-link. That page, and apparently all subsequent pages on that site, are translated by Google into English.

It's not perfect of course, and for all I know I'm the last person to figure this out - but for navigating web pages to get the info I need - I was really impressed. It certainly beats copying text and pasting into Babblefish.

Update - Turns out there's an easier way to use Goole Translate - Go to the website:
http://translate.google.com. From there you can eitehr cut and paste the text, or you can paste the url in directly. I think it saves a step.

Free Money

...Kind of.

I'm not usually one for get-rich-quick schemes - but the internet bank ING Direct has a special offer out there for new customers that they will deposit an additional $25 in your account if you open up a new account online.

I saw the ad in Kiplinger's, and tried it out just for fun (I opened one up with $5 - I still expect my free $25 deposit!). It does take a few minutes of your time, but I figured it evened out to me earning two bucks a minute. And who knows - their rates are good, might want to keep some cash in there.

Again - This will not make you rich, but its like finding money under the couch cushions.

Oh yeah, unfortunately you have to have a code - and it's only good for a one-time-use.
So far I've found them in Kiplinger's. If you can get a hand on a recent copy check out the fold-out ING ad.

I've got one Reference Code that hasn't been used: KP424/5CYFFYRG
It's only good for one use - so when it's gone, it's gone.

You can tell that I'm killing time at half-time on a Sunday Night - The Packers are not doing well....

Update: Here's another code in case the first one is already used: AMZ228/K4P9KSCZ

Free Credit Score - but only until 24 September!

Since I don't have any readership yet, this seems a bit premature (and outdated already) but there is a class-action lawsuit against Trans Union (The Credit Agency) for just about anyone who's used a credit card in the last 20 years. The details are here: https://www.listclassaction.com/

There is an option for "Six Months of Credit Monitoring and a Potential Cash Payment (If Available)" but I wouldn't hold your breath. You probably aren't getting back any cash, but at the very least, it's a simple, free way to get your credit score - if you're interested in things like that.

And now we’re live!

This is still a work in progress. And since this is day one – and obviously I have no readership yet, I feel like I’m talking to myself.

This is a blog for saving money. I am trying to gather up a lot of info and put it together in one place – hopefully it will last beyond my time in Warsaw.

So if you’re reading this – don’t hesitate to leave a comment. I will post a major theme every other week, and shorter, hopefully funnier, posts as they pop up and as I think of them. Don’t hesitate to share if you have any advice on how to save money – in Poland or wherever you are posted!

Thanks for looking
Dylan

Using Credit Cards Overseas: Finding a card that actually pays you back

My last column I left off with a reference to finding the perfect credit card with the lowest foreign currency transaction fees and big cash-back bonuses. I raised the question about the cash back program because I have a USAA MasterCard that I have used for many years only because they offered me a big fat refund at the end of the year. They’ve always charged me 1% for the currency transaction fee, but they gave a 1% rebate every January – so I always thought I was doing good to break even. Turns out, I was not getting the best deal and I hope the below helps you to find a better card as well.

“Gas Rewards” are big buzzwords in the credit community in the US. This works to our advantage overseas because we pay twice as much for gasoline here than what we would in the States – so your gas rebates are twice as much – but for those of us lucky enough to get a VAT rebate, we are effectively getting refunded what amounts to a little over 4% on net gas purchases. Admittedly my college math consists of “Math for Liberal Arts Majors” but I’m pretty sure that’s a lot better than paying a 14% fee on your net gas purchases.

If numbers make your eyes glaze over skip this paragraph – but if not check out this personal example: ACA tells me I spent $853.64 (gross) on gasoline in June of this year. They took 7% of the gross (or 14.36% of the net) and charged me for $59.76 in fees for that month. If I used my Capital One card that offers 2% back on gas purchases, Capital One would have paid me 2% of the gross (or roughly 4.1% of the net) which would have put $17.07 in my pocket, just for that month. Projected over 12 months - instead of paying $717.12 per year for the use of a card, I could be getting back $204.84, just for gas purchases – to say nothing of the amount I save on foreign currency transaction fees and 1% back for everything else I buy. Caveat - This will not make you rich, but it might make you feel better when you fill up your tank!

Finding a credit card that gives you the most back can be tedious and time consuming. I’d suggest first checking with your bank(s) and then ask friends and colleagues what they use, and of course – shop around. I found the one I’m using now because a colleague in my office had that card and mentioned he was never charged an international transaction fee (which I really thought was standard practice) – So that’s where I started. After a thorough grilling of their customer service rep (who still gave me bad information), I ended up with Capital One’s No-Hassle Cash Rewards Card. Frankly the card’s name is misleading (at best – customer service is horrible), but overall the deal on gas and groceries is as good as anything else I’ve found – at least for me and my spending habits.

You have to read the fine print with every single credit card though – Chase has a MasterCard that pays you 5% back for all purchases at a BP Station which could be an awesome deal, but the currency transaction fee is 3% so it’s no more advantageous than most 3% reward cards – and you can only get the big cash reward at the BP Station which means you have no choice where to buy gas. Plus the fine print says “at participating stores only”, so what are the odds that the BP station in Ursynow is a participating station? Pentagon Federal Credit Union has a card that gives you 5% back for gas purchases (which again, would be awesome) but only for purchases made “at the pump” and not inside at the register – not applicable at all to us overseas so that would be a not-so-great deal.

There are an emerging number of cards that give you rebates on gas and groceries. That “No Hassle Cash Rewards” said they offered 2% cash back for groceries as well and to test that I went to nine different grocery stores in Poland and the Czech Republic, a military commissary in Germany and our ACA commissary. I was surprised to learn that 6 out of 9 stores are listed properly to get the premium rebate of 2% back. It seems Mokpol Stores, the API Delikatesy in Konstancin and the ACA commissary are not listed as grocery stores with Mastercard, but you still get back 1% - which because they don’t charge a foreign currency transaction fee, makes it okay to me.

A final note – sometimes it never hurts to ask about additional discounts from your credit card company. Capital One will give extra discounts to active duty military like a reduced interest rate, no cash advance fees no annual fee and no late fees – all you have to do is ask. I don’t know if they would extend the same benefits to FSO’s overseas, but it still wouldn’t hurt to ask. Of course it takes a little common sense here – USAA isn’t going to give you a military discount and the State Department Credit Union probably isn’t impressed that you are a diplomat working overseas – but Chase might be… You never know unless you ask.

All of the above sounds daunting, but I’ve gotten up to 1,000 bucks back from a single card before and that’s kind of nice when it happens. It’s just like VAT receipts – day to day its small potatoes – year to year its a healthy chunk of cash.

So – now that you know which cards charge the most for currency transaction fees and you know what to look for in a card that pays you back, look around and see what’s out there. I had this strange loyalty to my USAA MasterCard for years thinking that I owed them my business. When I realized they had been offering lots of deals and incentives to my wife for her to use her credit card, but not to me, who actually spends money I saw that relationship for what it is – just business. Getting a card with a behemoth company like Capital One doesn’t feel so dirty when I’m getting money back every month!

Using Credit Cards Overseas: Foreign Currency Fees…What a Pain in the gas!

Not too long ago I received an invitation for an American Express Platinum Card. I’ve been an Amex Customer for years and apparently all my good payment history has paid off in the form of an offer for a snooty credit card with a $450 annual fee. After the ego trip wore off, I thought to myself “Who in the world would pay $450 in annual fees just to carry a credit card?” Then I got my first gas-card bill from the ACA with the new fees... For my family, at almost 60 bucks a month (at least the first month), I would pay about $717 over the course of the year in credit card fees. Somehow the $450 platinum fee looks like a bargain.

So I turned in my Shell card and started looking for an alternative. I set out with two simple goals: Avoid paying fees and find a card that gives me the most money back. What I discovered was the way I had been using credit cards overseas was not ideal, and along the way I was reminded of some little hidden charges that sneak up on those of us who use them outside the US. This article is focused on some fees you may not be aware that you’re paying and next issue’s article will be focused on finding the right credit card that pays you money back.

Almost all credit cards charge sort of a foreign currency transaction fee (unless of course you’re making purchases in your own currency – in your own country) but I found that some companies hide the fees in your account’s paperwork, which seems unethical. If you’re not positive the amount you’re paying you should ask, and then you should double check to make sure you’re not getting cheated. The most you should be paying for a currency transaction fee is 1% because that is the baseline by Visa/MasterCard. Anything more than 1% is going straight to your bank’s pocket.

Here’s a quick list of some major banks and their currency conversion rates:
Capital One 0%**
Discover 0% - Not Generally Accepted Overseas
Wachovia 1%
Washington Mutual 1%
SDFCU 1%
Pentagon/Navy FCU 1%
American Express 3%
Bank of America 3%
Chase 3%
Citibank (Citi Card) 3%
HSBC 3%
U.S. Bank 3%
Wells Fargo 3%

**I was real skeptical because Capital One uses a different method for computing exchange rates than other cards, but through my own research (with the help of the commissary) I’ve found they do have the best exchange rate – hands down.

While on the topic of foreign currencies – this was hard lessons learned: I have found in a few places in Warsaw (recently Go Sport and Oh Sushi!), they may offer to charge your credit card in Polish Zloty or USD (in some cases Euro). You should always, always, always choose Zloty (or whatever the host-nation’s currency is). Anything else and you will pay twice for conversion – You will pay a less-than-favorable conversion rate by the local merchant’s bank, and then your bank will charge you a fee for making a purchase (even in dollars) outside the US. The only exception overseas I’ve found is on a military base where you don’t pay any fees when the currency is dollars.

Here are some questions you should know the answers to – about every one of your credit cards you use overseas:

-What is the total rate charged for a Foreign Currency Transaction fee? Anything above the 1% charged by MasterCard and you can do better.
-What exchange rate are they using to convert currencies? They should be using the International rates published in the Wall Street Journal (anything else is worth double checking).
-Is there a cash-back program and is it applicable to purchases made in other currencies?

Three percent might not sound like that much to pay in currency fees, but since most of us would be thrilled to get a 3% raise in January I think it’s worth saving that money. Bottom line – Check your current credit cards to see if they’re gouging you – If you’re paying over 1% consider getting another card. And never, ever pay more than you have to. Even for a platinum card!

Post One: Opening a Polish Bank Account!

As I lie awake in bed recently with fear of how much the new bill-paying fees were going to affect our family budget, I really started to wonder – is there a better (read: cheaper) way to pay my Polish Zloty-based bills? Since I pay a hefty preschool bill, which theoretically would land me bill-payment fees of $60 per payment, I reasoned there had to be a cheaper way.

This is what I found: You (yes you) can open up a local bank account in Polish Zloty for as little as 19 PLN a month and use that bank account to make unlimited bank transfers and unlimited bill payments. So with a minimal amount of extra effort I can now pay all of my bills for a flat-rate fee of 19 PLN a month.

Here’s what I did: I took a native Polish speaking colleague along with me for a sanity check, but if you speak passable Polish, or are patient while the bank finds someone who speaks passable English, all you need is a passport and about a half an hour (or less) of your time to open an account; along with your spouse if you want them on the account as well. You’ll walk out with a bank account number and you’re on your way. Note: I used the bank closest to the Embassy, but I’m told if you make any effort in shopping around you can easily get a cheaper rate (especially if you’re willing to put a few zlotys in the account). I’m told Citibank has an excellent English website, but I think I’ll stick with the bank across the street.

Here’s what I’m doing now: I use this account to pay my phone bill and my bi-monthly preschool-bill. At present I’ve paid two bills by phone, which is so easy because the only Polish you need to know is when to press “7” to get an English-speaking bank representative. I also use this account as a way to dump my spare zloty change once a month (you know – all those grozy that pile up) and the bank seems happy to get it (at least to my face). Getting money into the account seems to be the only problem. To avoid the fees and hassles with transferring money from a USD bank account, I am changing my banking information with the VAT Helpdesk to have our quarterly VAT payments made here. I will use that money to pay subsequent bills – and of course, you can always make a PLN deposit whenever you need to. I’ve found it would actually be cheaper (and easier) to make a withdrawal from the ATM that’s sitting in their bank, and then deposit that into my Polish Bank Account – rather than try to transfer money across the Atlantic.

Just recently I received in the mail the documents necessary for paying bills over the internet. I made a phone call, spoke to a guy in English – and now I go to the English website to set up payees and make payments. It’s actually easier than the phone because you need no Polish at all for that part. It’s also worth noting that it appears easier to make a payment via the Polish website for me than using my USAA bank account to pay stateside bills.

Another advantage (this is my personal theory rather than hard facts) is that this can actually protect you from exchange rate losses as the dollar gets stronger against the zloty. Since my VAT deposit will be in Polish zloty and I pay my bills in Polish zloty – there is not an issue of having paid for something at 2.01 but being reimbursed for said item’s VAT at the new-found strength of 2.25 six months later. Now this would understandably have the opposite effect if the dollar really tanks - but then we’ve got bigger worries anyway.

So this is just my experience in getting and using a local bank account. For me, paying the phone bill takes far less time than going to the post office, which used to cost me 2.50 PLN and up to a half an hour of my time on my lunch-hour. Now I get the bill, make a five minute phone call and the deal is done. Next month I’ll try the internet.

Oh yeah – and included in that 19 PLN per month is a Polish Visa Check Card that I can use anywhere in town as a Visa debit card, or as an ATM card for that account. That will be great if I ever get to the point where I don’t have that massive preschool bill to pay anymore.

So will my experiences work for you? I’m not sure. It’s a cost vs. demand thing. When I was paying $6 a pop to make bank payments it wasn’t a big deal. Now that I find I can pay about $9 a month and make as many payments as I want – I’m much more motivated. Frankly – I don’t know why it took me so long to get a local bank account in the first place.