Thursday, July 17, 2008 Talkback Question:

How much have you lost (or gained) in your investment accounts?

* Year to date, I've lost 12.7% of my 401k and 18.59% of my taxable brokerage account.

I want to hear from you. Be sure to leave a comment with your answer.

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Two weeks ago, I posted about the mailer I received from Chase with a pretty sweet incentive to use my credit card. I've been a cardmember for a year or two and I have two different Chase credit cards. I only used the cards for a couple of months and they've since been locked in my junk drawer along with all the other credit cards I don't use.

The offer of a $5 statement credit per day to use the card during the month of July is a pretty good deal and I've certainly taken advantage of it. I have only been using the card for purchases I had already planned to make and the balance will be paid in full next month. The offer stated the statement credits would be posted within 6-8 weeks from the date the promotion ends. As you can see from the image below (click to see it bigger), they've already starting applying the statement credits which makes the deal even sweeter.


Yesterday, I received another offer for the other Chase credit card I have and don't use. This offer is a little different and not nearly as tempting. They are offering a free $25 gas card for using the credit card. This time though, I need to spend at least $100 each month between July 1 and September 1.

I like that I don't have to make daily purchases to get the bonus. I don't like that I have to wait up to 6 months (3 months for the promotion to end and then 2-3 months for the card to arrive) before I receive the gas card. I haven't decided whether I will take advantage of this promotion or not. Maybe if I continue to not use the card, they will send an even sweeter promotion??

Have you received any offers/incentives to use your Chase card?

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I'm sure mostly all of you have heard the phrase, "If I had known then what I know now". This phrase can be applied to many areas of your life but being that this is a personal finance blog, I am only talking about how it applies to your money.

While sitting in traffic the other day, I had plenty of time to think about this. What would my financial life look like had I made better financial decisions in my past? I know you can't change the past but you can certainly change the future.

I thought about all of the bad financial decisions I'd made in my past and thought it would be a good idea to make a list.

Some of the decisions I've made in my past that I regret are:

• Student Loans. There is no doubt that I would not have been able to attend college without taking out student loans. The government was very generous when it came to giving me money for college. They not only gave me money for tuition and books but they also gave me money to live on. I wish that I had not taken the maximum amount of aid that I was given and maybe I would not owe a small fortune in student loans right now. I did not put the extra money to good use and can't even remember how much I spent on "liquid" entertainment.


• Cars. I had to have a new car. I bought my first new car my senior year in college and then bought a new one every two years after that. I never put any money down and rolled in the negative equity into my next purchase. I bought my last new car in 2006 and paid it off in full this year. I plan to keep this car until the wheels fall off. If I do buy a car prior to the wheels falling off, I plan to save and pay cash. I've gotten a taste of what it's like to not have a car payment and I don't want to be chained to an automobile finance company again.


• Credit Cards. If I could only get back 10% of the finance charges I've paid to the credit card companies, I could probably payoff my student loans. Now that I've finally paid them off, any purchases made on my credit cards is promptly paid in full the next month.


• Keeping up with the Joneses. If I had not tried to keep up with everyone else, I probably would not have taken on as much debt as I did. I was trying to live like people who were in a much better financial position than me. Alot of my friends in college were living off of Daddy's money. I didn't have that so I was living off of Citibank's money.

I can't change the past but I am certainly changing the future. If I had known then what I know now, my financial picture would be much, much better. My net worth would probably be over six figures.

If you are just starting out in your finances, don't make the same financial mistakes I made. Don't try and live like the Joneses. Your self worth is not determined by "things". I can't remember where I heard the saying but someone once said, "Once you have self worth, you can have net worth".

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I'm totally kidding. I used to be a Starbucks addict. I used to go at least five times a week without fail. Sometimes, I would even go on the weekend. I was spending over $30 a week for my caffeine fix. When I put it into perspective how much this addiction was costing me, I made steps to break the habit. My mother bought me a coffee pot for Christmas and I started making my own coffee at home for alot less money.

Yesterday, I ran out of creamer so I made a return visit to Starbucks. This time, it actually hurt to drop over $4 for a cup of coffee. I thought about how much money I'd spent during my Starbucks addiction and thought about how this money would have helped me reduce debt or boost my savings.

I'm glad I broke the Starbucks habit. It looks like more people may be breaking the Starbucks habit. According to Yahoo Finance, the company is closing 600 underperforming stores in the United States.

Related Posts:

My Cheaper Alternative to Starbucks
My Bad Habits Are Costing Me

Image Credit: re-ality