- Seriously? Threatening people's lives and their families? http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34907.html #
- Old Navy Online Only 40% off sale + 15% off $75 with code ONSAVEBIG and don't forget your Ebates (http://tinyurl.com/ygttetl) #
- Wish me luck! Baby Geek will be arriving this weekend. #
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Tomorrow I will go in for Cervidil and on Friday I will be induced via Pitocin if I don’t start labor from the procedure Thursday.
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No, I’m not talking about the gigantic butt I’ve developed since the start of this pregnancy.
How much extra float do you keep in your bank accounts?
I’m a big believer in the fudge factor. Murphy is kind of a jerk and whether it’s a transaction posting too slowly, someone cashing a check 6 months after you cut it, some fuzzy math, a transaction going through twice or just plain having a brain fart on how much is in your account, at some point there’s bound to be a screw up that could force you into overdraft.
If you’re not living absolutely hand to mouth, I’d make sure there was at least an extra $200 chilling in your checking account that should NEVER be spent. We keep more than that, but that’s because most of our transactions through the bank accounts are things like the mortgage or loan payments that tend to be bigger transactions.
To give you an example of how you could get smacked if you don’t have enough cushion, let’s say you’re going on vacation and you don’t like credit cards, so you pay for your hotel room with a debit card. Many chains will put a hold larger than your room charge on there to make sure you can pay off any incidentals or charges to the room. If there isn’t extra fudge room in your account, you could find yourself unable to use your card for anything else if you’re tightly budgeted.
A similar example would be if a cashier screwed up a debit transaction and had to refund or cancel it. In Canada, it would just be voided immediately and life would move on. In America, you money is now in limbo and you could be stuck for days or weeks where the money is held until the transaction falls off. Not so bad if it was a coffee and pastry, but it could be devastating on a big ticket items.
Getting smacked with an overdraft fee is one of the dumbest financial mistakes people make. While sometimes it’s possible to get them to waive it if it’s your first mistake or if it’s truly not your fault (like the canceled transaction), in this day in age it’s likely the bank won’t really care and you’ll be stuck with a ridiculous fee.
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Tomorrow is Free Cone Day at participating Ben and Jerry’s 12-8pm.
http://www.benjerry.com/scoop-shops/scoop-shop-locator/
Starbucks is offering a free pastry with the purchase of a drink until 10:30am, but you’ll need the coupon from here:
http://assets.starbucks.com/assets/1ac43f0b737a4b778Ba9c80ee14715ec.jpg
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… the Health Care Reform bill has passed. And the crazy has been flying from both sides overnight.
Me, I think the bill has been neutered and isn’t going to really help anyone the way it’s written now (except the insurance companies). The good stuff has been tempered with corporate bullshit and the bad stuff (like restricting a woman’s reproductive rights) has been added or not removed. Bravo, Congress, for making this an epic fustercluck.
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- For all you corporate mamas, Hanes Hosiery Sale up to 50% off – http://tinyurl.com/yhv8yk5 #
- $15 off a $30 purchase at Express with code 4227. #
- Graco Harmony High Chair Recall – http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10171.html #
- Got an end date for this pregnancy. 3/26, one way or another. #
- Snagged 2 pairs of shorts, 2 skirts, 1 pair of pants and 5 shirts for $100 at Old Navy outlet. Also hit the Carter outlet (50%). #
- Bath and Body Works 20% off with code SPRING20 + 3% back with Ebates (http://tinyurl.com/ygttetl) #
- Stackable discount – DSW $10 off any order code UNLUCKY + Free shipping on $15+ FREESHIP + 7% back from Ebates – http://tinyurl.com/ygttetl #
- 20 free 5×7 photo cards with $10 purchase at Snapfish (3/21). Alas, offer ends before mini-me comes. #
- Oops, forgot to add the code – Snapfish free 20 5×7 cards – MYCARDS #
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I am a human time bomb.
Had the induction discussion with my doctor at my appointment yesterday and I’m scheduled for an NST next Wednesday (my 41wk appointment). I’m not as anxious to have the baby as I am anxious to avoid the induction because I’m trying to go without pain medication and an IV/monitor makes moving around and the alternate pain management options more difficult.
I’ve been doing a LOT of walking to try to convince mini-me to come on out. Unfortunately, a lot of that is done in Potomac Mills, which may not be the best thing on my wallet. I’ve been very good, but today we’re taking the 30% Friends and Family coupon to Old Navy so I can pick up the elastic waist skirts I’ve been eyeing (Ebates was offering 7% back online as which stacks with the 30%, but that barely covers shipping and most of the skirts are sold out online).
I also finally got my act together and we sold back all of our old games that we are never going to play again. All together, we ended up with $125 in Gamestop credit because they’re offering an extra 50% back with the Edge card. We also happened to be selling back the games for the God of War III trade in so, Mr. got and finished it Tuesday. (He really liked it) We also have $100 in gift cards, so we’re trying to figure out what games we want. Obviously things that can just be picked up intermittently would be best with mini-me’s imminent arrival, so we’re thinking of snagging the new Final Fantasy (I’ve been playing since the first one).
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So here’s a little quiz for you. Read these four scenarios and figure out which one is a genuine rip-off.
A. You are at work and the siren call of saturated fat hits you. You hoof it down to the nearest McD’s and order a Quarter Pounder value meal. You open the bag at your office, you realize your french fries aren’t in there. When you call the store to complain, they offer to replace your meal for free.
B. You are at Target and see an adorable place mat on an endcap and there’s the telltale orange clearance tag on two of the price tags. You grab four. When you get to the front, the cashier rings up your purchase but calls over her manager because your place mat rang up as socks. The manager says she’s sorry, but some unscrupulous customer tried to switch the tags and put the items in the wrong section. She says she’ll give you the first one for the price on the switched tag, but the rest will be full price like they’re supposed to be.
C. You are returning an ugly sweater that you got as a gift. The CSR asks you for your receipt, but you don’t have it. The CSR apologizes profusely, but points to the big sign behind her that says she can’t process a return without one. After several minutes of you complaining, the manager comes over and offers to give you store credit for the current sale price, just to get you out of the store. This isn’t going to to do you any good because you wouldn’t shop in the store, anyway.
D. Your coffee machine starts spewing water all over the kitchen counter. You call up the number on your instruction manual to get a replacement, but your warranty expired 3 weeks ago. No amount of pleading or threatening to speak to a supervisor will get them to make an exception.
The answer, of course, is E: None of the Above.
I’m sick of people whining about ripoffs which, frankly, aren’t ripoffs. Employee human error (assuming the company works to correct it) and disclosed, reasonable company policies that you just don’t like are NOT ripoffs.
It’s your responsibility as a consumer to make sure you are aware of return policies, shipping charges, warranties, etc. Occasionally you run into a company with truly illegal policies or outright scams, but the vast majority of ‘ripoffs’ could be avoided if the customer didn’t have their heads in their behinds.
If you’re not sure that ‘Final Sale’ item will fit, don’t buy it. If the return policy says you need a receipt, then keep your receipt. If your warranty is for 90 days and it is now day 109, you’re so out of luck. Save your outrage for real corporate abuses.
Have you ever been truly ripped off by a company?
We’ve been fortunate so far. While we’ve had some really crappy situations with some companies (see the Lowe’s Disaster), we usually have our wits about us and refuse to do business if we smell something fishy.
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