The devil put down his fiddle with glee – finance guys were going down. Musicians were back on the upswing and everyone knew women loved rock stars. Orchestrating the economic decline had been surprisingly easy. The inevitable finger pointing had begun in earnest. Experts were blaming consumers, liberals were blaming conservatives, conservatives were blaming liberals, and everyone was blaming bankers. Under immense financial stress and pressure, bankers weren’t treating their girlfriends’ right. Now they were out looking. Even the New York Times had weighed in: “It’s the Economy Girlfriend” (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/nyregion/28daba.html?em). His bet was that musicians were next in line. Who else could afford bottle/table service? Then he frowned, the last time he had made a bet he had lost his favorite golden fiddle – and he wanted to keep his hedge against the dollar falling.
February 11th, 2009
Recent statistics show that the Botox treatment industry has generated over $1 billion per year in revenue. When an industry hits that threshold, it’s a viable, on-going market. Although the recent market downturn may put a slight wrinkle in sales, younger and younger women are now trying the procedure. A growing number are getting Botox the moment they graduate from high school.
This is an example of really bad money management – not to mention a totally unnecessary cosmetic procedure. At upwards of 300 dollars per appointment, you would be much better off paying down your credit card or other debts or saving or investing. Even if you are completely debt free, and can truly afford it, there is plenty of time to freeze your face.
If you put the $300 in your savings account instead and earned 4% interest, in five years you would have roughly $1,460 dollars ($300 x 4 times a year – usually you need three to four injections per year). If you waited five years to start Botox, and saved the money each year, you would have saved approximately $6,700. What could you do with $6,700?
January 16th, 2009
As plastic and status are becoming more intertwined, more people are turning to prepaid cards. What is a prepaid card? Prepaid cards are a debit card which has a specific amount of money put on the card by you or someone who loves you. Instead of being linked to a bank account, you, or the nice person buying you the card, tell the bank how much money to put on it and that is all you get – unless you or they add more when you run out.
On the plus side, prepaid cards are safer to use than cash – if you lose them you are protected, cannot get you into the same kind of trouble credit cards can – you cannot run up high interest debt, and are more flexible than single-store gifts cards – you can use them anywhere. You can also use them online for purchases and to pay bills.
However, many prepaid cards charge a fee for almost every single thing you do with them. Want to get a card – there is an issuance fee. Want to sign up – there is an enrollment fee. Want to find out how much is left on the card – teller fee. Lose your card and need a new one – replacement fee. Use the card – transaction fee. Don’t use the card – inactivity fee. Want to put more money on the card – reload fee. All those fees add up quickly, leaving you less money to spend. Why would you waste all that money on fees when the world is swarming with stores just calling your name?
In addition, because they are not linked to a bank account, prepaid cards do not help you build your credit. However, there a few new cards which will report your prepaid card transactions to the credit agencies. In theory, this may help you build a positive profile, but it is unclear.
A financially savvy fashionista knows putting down cash with a flourish is way more stylish than paying prepaid card fee or amassing debt with credit cards.
November 9th, 2008