ptg From the Library of Melissa Wong LIVING RICH by SPENDING SMART ptg From the Library of Melissa Wong This page intentionally left blank ptg From the Library of Melissa Wong LIVING RICH by SPENDING SMART ptg HOW TO GET MORE OF WHAT YOU REALLY WANT GREGORY KARP From the Library of Melissa Wong Vice President, Publisher: Tim Moore Associate Publisher and Director of Marketing: Amy Neidlinger Executive Editor: Jim Boyd Editorial Assistant: Pamela Boland Development Editor: Russ Hall Digital Marketing Manager: Julie Phifer Marketing Coordinator: Megan Colvin Cover Designer: John Barnett Managing Editor: Gina Kanouse Project Editor: Chelsey Marti Copy Editor: Geneil Breeze Proofreader: Leslie Joseph Indexer: Lisa Stumpf Compositor: Jake McFarland Manufacturing Buyer: Dan Uhrig © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as FT Press Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 FT Press offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered in quantity for bulk purchases or special sales. For more information, please contact U.S. Corporate and Government Sales, 1-800-382-3419, [email protected]. For sales outside the U.S., please contact International Sales at [email protected]. Company and product names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form or by any means, ptg without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America First Printing January 2008 ISBN-10 0-13-235009-2 ISBN-13 978-0-13-235009-9 Pearson Education LTD. Pearson Education Australia PTY, Limited. Pearson Education Singapore, Pte. Ltd. Pearson Education North Asia, Ltd. Pearson Education Canada, Ltd. Pearson Educatión de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. Pearson Education—Japan Pearson Education Malaysia, Pte. Ltd. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Karp, Gregory. Living rich by spending smart : how to get more of what you really want / Gregory Karp. p. cm. ISBN 0-13-235009-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Budgets, Personal. 2. Home economics— Accounting. 3. Finance, Personal. I. Title. HG179.K374 2008 332.024—dc22 2007035095 From the Library of Melissa Wong For Dad and Grandpop, ptg role models and noble men From the Library of Melissa Wong This page intentionally left blank ptg From the Library of Melissa Wong Contents Introduction The Spending Smart Philosophy . .xiv Chapter 1 Financial FITness Whacking the Worst Offenders . .1 Stockpiling Food for Savings: Bodega in the Basement. 3 Coupon Clipping Conundrum: Hassle or Goldmine?. 6 Dining Out: Celebrations Versus Poor Meal Planning . 9 Life Insurance: It’s Your Money and Your Life . 12 Home and Auto Insurance: Don’t Pay Too Much. 16 ptg Phone at Home: Pay Less for Your Landline. 19 Wireless Mobile Phone: Don’t Let Them Cell You a Bad Plan. 23 Chapter 2 Know Thine Enemy; It Is Us The Problem Between Our Ears . .27 Smart People, Dumb Spending: Fire the Accountant in Your Head . 28 Evaluating Value: Psychological Income . 32 Impulse Spending: Harness the Urge to Splurge. 34 No Excuses: The Lies We Tell Ourselves. 37 Money Personalities: What Type Are You? . 39 Shopping Addiction: “Shop Till You Drop” Ain’t Funny . 43 From the Library of Melissa Wong viii LIVING RICH BY SPENDING SMART Chapter 3 What a Waste! Pet Peeves and Hot Buttons . .45 Bottled Water: Tap into Savings . 46 Junky Insurance: Extended Warranties and Other Insurance You Don’t Need. 49 Timeshare Vacations: The Worst Real Estate Deal Ever. 52 Smoking: Your Money, Up in Smoke . 54 Ink-Jet Cartridges: Refill Rage . 57 Lottery: Winning the Jackpot Isn’t a Financial Plan . 59 Textbooks: Get Schooled in the Alternatives . 60 Hybrid Vehicles: Have a Nonfinancial Reason for Buying One . 62 Greeting Cards Discarded: Special-Occasion Cardboard Rethought . 64 Chapter 4 The Big Picture ptg Strategies for Spending Smart . .67 Comparison Shopping: What’s a Good Price? . 68 Tracking Spending: Forensics on Your Finances . 71 Rules of Thumb: Benchmarks for Spending Smart . 74 Buying Tactics: When the Price Isn’t Really the Price. 77 Curse of Automatic Payments: Monthly Commitments Will Haunt You . 79 Buying Used: Secondhand Gives You a Leg Up. 81 Spending Windfalls: Don’t Blow It. 84 Membership Has Its Privileges: Savings by Association . 86 Shopping Online: Geek Your Way to Savings . 89 From the Library of Melissa Wong CONTENTS ix Chapter 5 Around the House Everyday Spending . .93 Running Hot and Cold: Keep Your Bought Air Indoors. 94 Gasoline: Fuel Savings with Better Mileage . 98 Television: Tune In to Savings . 100 Pets: Don’t Let Fido Sink Your Finances. 104 Prescription Drugs: Just Say No to High Prices for Meds . 106 Library: Free Stuff Galore . 109 Compact Fluorescents: See the Light . 111 Lawn and Garden: Grow Your Savings. 114 Eyeglasses and Contact Lenses: See the Price Difference . 117 Clothing: Better Duds for Less . 120 Chapter 6 Financial Foolishness Overspending for Financial Services . .123 ptg Bank Accounts: Don’t Pay Anyone to Hold Your Money . 124 Credit Cards: Play the Game Right . 127 Credit Cards II: Advanced Tactics . 130 Debt Reduction: Finish Paying for Your Purchases. 131 Index Mutual Funds: You Can’t Beat ‘em, So Join ‘em . 134 Identity Theft: What Protections are Worthwhile? . 137 Chapter 7 That Time of Year Seasonal Strategies for Spending Smart . .143 Back to School Spending: School Daze . 144 Holiday Spending: Ho, Ho, Ho. Where’d My Money Go? . 146 Valentine’s Day on the Cheap…Without Ending Up in the Doghouse. 148 From the Library of Melissa Wong x LIVING RICH BY SPENDING SMART Tax Preparation: Frugal Ways to Pay Uncle Sam . 151 Wedding Gifts: An Invitation Is Not an Invoice . 154 Kid Birthday Parties: Rein in the Ridiculous . 155 Amusement Parks: Costs Shouldn’t Take You for a Ride . 157 Vacation Accommodations: Hotel Versus Home Rental . 159 Chapter 8 Life Happens Big-Ticket Infrequent Spending . .163 How Much Car Can I Afford?—Less Than You Think. 164 Why Buy Used? You’re Not Buying Someone Else’s Problem. 167 How Much House Can I Afford? Don’t Be “House Poor”. 170 Moving Costs: Getting Your Stuff from ptg Here to There . 172 Wedding Spending: Like Marriage, It’s About Compromise . 174 College Tuition: The Two-Year, Two-Year Plan . 178 Divorce: Spending Less on Splitting Up . 181 Hospital Bills: Rampant Mistakes Are Sickening. 183 Funerals: Try to Bury the Pain and Guilt. 185 A Final Thought: Buying Happiness . .189 Index . .195 From the Library of Melissa Wong Acknowledgments In 2003, Tribune Co. was creating a new personal finance section that would be available to all its newspapers, including the one where I worked, the Allentown (PA) Morning Call. That’s when I success- fully proposed a new kind of consumer column that I would write. We would call it “Spending Smart.” It was first published in January 2004. “Spending Smart” was an instant success with the millions of readers who buy Tribune Co. newspapers, which include the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, Hartford Courant, and Orlando Sentinel, among others. The column’s success did not stem from my journalis- tic prowess. Rather, the topic of spending your money smarter struck a chord with readers. They had plenty of financial writers advising them on how to manage their extra money. But they didn’t have ptg someone telling them how to accumulate that money in the first place—how to spend their money smarter so they had some left over to manage. That’s why they love the “Spending Smart” column. Since the first column rolled off the presses, literally hundreds of readers have written and phoned with praise and criticism, both of which were invaluable. I am grateful and indebted to those readers. “Spending Smart” the newspaper column—the genesis of the idea for this book—would never have achieved liftoff without initial and continuing support from several top-quality editors at the Morn- ing Call. They are former Business Editor Michael Hirsch, Managing Editor David Erdman, and Editor Ardith Hilliard. I thank them for that. This book also benefited from many of the experts I talked to along the way. They are far too numerous to mention by name, but I thank them nonetheless. From the Library of Melissa Wong xii LIVING RICH BY SPENDING SMART Thanks also to the folks at Pearson Prentice Hall, including Exec- utive Editor Jim Boyd and Developmental Editor Russ Hall. Thanks too, to manuscript reviewers Liz Pulliam Weston, an author who also writes columns for MSN Money, and Cynthia Smith. Thank you to Coach Deb, who helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my professional life. Those Sunday evening coach- ing sessions by phone led directly to this book. Thanks, sis. Finally and most importantly, I want to thank my immediate fam- ily for unwavering support. There were too many times when Daddy couldn’t pay enough attention to Jacob and Michael because he was cooped up in the home office tapping away at the computer keyboard at night, on weekends, and during holidays. And to my wife, Rebecca, thank you for your constant encouragement and boundless optimism. You are my inspiration. ptg From the Library of Melissa Wong About the Author Gregory Karp is an award-winning, nationally published newspa- per journalist. Greg’s column, “Spending Smart,” is consistently among the popular personal finance columns in Tribune Co. newspa- pers each Sunday. In 2006 the column was named Best Column by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. Greg’s writing regularly appears in such newspapers as the Chicago Tribune, Newsday, Baltimore Sun, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, and Allentown (PA) Morning Call. It also appears on the Web sites of such television stations as WPIX in New York, WGN in Chicago, and KTLA in Los Angeles.