Starting the Week with a Carnival

The Carnival of Personal Finance, that is. My post How I saved $6 Today is featured there, so go check it out here: [link] Four Pillars is hosting it this week, so go check out all the great articles from everyone.

How I Took Advantage to Get Something I Wanted

I have been in need of a new tv for the last year or so. The speakers are starting to go, the picture’s not the best and the tv’s actually quite small for my space. As I watch an inordinate amount of television, as well as use it to keep me company when I’m by myself (just for the noise), a tv is a good investment for me. My current one has lasted me 12 years and has served me well. But it was time for it to go.

I had $1,000 saved up that I wanted to spend on one, however hadn’t really found a new one I liked, and besides, since I was making the jump up to HDTV, I didn’t want to just puchase the first one that looked good (because they ALL look good). So I started doing some research early last week and had narrowed it down to a certain number of features and technologies that I wanted in the tv. And then the clincher happened on Thursday: I got the weekend’s flyers early. In it I saw that most places were going to drop their prices by several hundred dollars because of a new type of television that was coming out — 3D tv. So I waited until Saturday and then headed out.

The salesguy was actually quite nice, explained all sorts of things to me, and even listened when I said I didn’t want to spend more than $1,000 even if the $1,200 tv was “better” than the one I was looking at. He showed me a few models, I asked my questions and then made my decision.

The verdict? A nice 40″ Samsung HDTV that was $300 off last week’s price. And because I went with a smaller tv, I was even able to save on the $50 delivery fee and take the tv home with me. Yippie!

How I saved $6 today

Count up the change folks, I saved a whopping $6.30 today.

How did I do that? By mailing in my tennis club membership application instead of using the online sign up form. Their online signup is a new thing for them, and since they’re a community-based tennis club, they pass along the 4.5% charge the credit card companies charge them to the members. And that’s fine, normally I wouldn’t mind paying the extra $6.30 for the convenience. However since I know that they only just opened membership for the new season this week, I’m not concerned about not getting in (they cap membership to ensure everyone gets a shot at playing on the courts every day.)

Before you get all up in my face about the fact that I signed up for a tennis club, and you think that means I’ve got money to burn right now, let me stop you right now. My tennis club is a community-based one that rents courts from the city. Sure, we’ve got a club house, but that’s because the club is over 100 years old, so they had time to save up their pennies to build it. <smile> And considering I live in Toronto, where normally a tennis club membership would run me several hundred dollars per year PLUS an initiation fee that could run me in the thousands, this club is great. The grand total for essentially 6 months of playing time on reserved courts is $140. Yep, that’s it, $140. They even provide us with tennis balls so I don’t even have to buy any of those to play. Woo ha.

Right now I’m shopping for a new pair of tennis shoes because I want to play a little more seriously this year (read: more than once every week or so), and while they’re still in good shape, they’re low-end shoes that were starting to make my feet a little sore after about an hour of playing time. (Note: a good pair of tennis shoes will run you over $100, with super high-end ones costing over $200). So this year I’m going to shop around at a few shops and see if I can find a pair that I like that won’t cost me more than $100, give or take $1o. I think I might even search online too, as I know there are a few US-based tennis sites that have good deals, but I’d have to be able to try on the shoe here in town in order to know which one would be good for me. But at any rate it’s nice to have the option to do that.

So there you have it, how I saved $6.30 today. Did you save any money today? How?

Update: It turns out I’ll actually be saving $13.30, as they’re also charging $7 worth of tax if I use the online credit card payment. Boo yah.

It’s Tax Time Again

As you can see, I’ve had to pull out the good old calculator this week in order to do my income taxes. Okay, I don’t actually use the calculator as I do my taxes online, but you know what I mean. It’s time to see if I owe the government any money, or if they owe me a refund. I suspect I’m getting a refund as I changed jobs last year, which means that I would have over-paid on a few of the various taxes they withdraw automatically from my paycheque, so my fingers are crossed.

[A while later...] Yippie! I AM getting a refund! YES! Always nice to get the cash out of the government instead of the other way around. Naturally I cannot have fun with this refund, but instead will dump half into my RRSP (retirement) savings and the other half into my savings fund (which will eventually be used to pay off my car next year). Woo ha, the joys of being a responsible adult. haha.