A quick (but big) thank you to Kristie Lorette, a fellow Copywriting & Marketing pro, who spotted a potentially embarssing quirk on the site and had the courtesy to let me know about it.

Thanks Kristie.

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Quick Thanks originally published at Personal Finance Blog - FinanceGourmet.com

Today, I got a notice in the mail regarding my Citibank credit card.  Mind you, I chose this card a few years ago because of how its travel rewards worked.  It paid off.  We went to Hawaii this year.  Combined with some hotel reward points, three plane tickets and a week in a nice resort hotel were all free.  It was a great vacation.

However, I will be cancelling my Citibank card on Monday.  Good thing we used up most of the points on the vacation.

My notice says that with interest rates plummeting over the last year and with banks and financial institutions all over the country struggling to find and keep good customers who have strong credit and pay their bills on time, Citibank will be RAISING the interest rate on my credit card.

Frankly, given the state of the economy and the fact that I get a dozen credit card offers a week despite having opted out of everything we can, it is insulting to have ANY rate increase at all.  But, Citibank decided to make it so insulting that all their financially savvy customers will be cancelling their cards as well.

The new rate, if you are wondering, will be Prime + 10.99%.  I have credit cards with interest rates lower than the plus part of the new rate, let alone the rest of it.  16.99% is the kind of rate people with “not so good” of credit pay.  So, Citibank and I part ways next week.  I guess the billions of dollars the government will be giving them means that they don’t really need to keep their good customers anymore.

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Citibank’s Recovery Plan? Gouging Customers originally published at Personal Finance Blog - FinanceGourmet.com

I’ll be moving the now hybrid version of Finance Gourmet to an all WordPress format.  So, it will look very different soon.

Comments on the market, selling the house, and my small business(es) coming tonight, and the rest of this week.

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Major Conversion originally published at Personal Finance Blog - FinanceGourmet.com

Some of you have followed along as we try and sell our house without a real estate agent.  I have documented how we were using Iggyshouse.com to this.  But, the site has been down for the last several days.  I was finally able to find this article suggesting that this is not a temporary glitch.

Needless to say, we are re-evaluating.  Even if it does come back online, this is disconcerting to say the least.  If we were off MLS for even one weekend, that might have cost us a sale.  So, I cannot recommend using iggyshouse.com at this time.

Stay tuned.  I’ll post a follow up when I have more details.

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Iggyshouse Down! originally published at Personal Finance Blog - FinanceGourmet.com

These days, medical expenses are a big burden to many family’s budgets. Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy to figure out just how and when you can save money without endangering your health. However, here are some tips that could save you plenty of money on your prescriptions.

Costco, Sam’s Club, and Other Warehouse Clubs

It is no secret that places like Costco and Sam’s Club have pharmacies, and yes, they have good prices on prescriptions as well. Not a member? No problem. Most states have laws requiring any business establishment to permit public access to the pharmacy. In other words, you can march right into Sam’s Club without a membership and have your prescription filled. Just tell the person at the door that you are having a prescription filled in the pharmacy and they’ll let you right in. These places tend to train their people pretty well on this rule so they don’t get into trouble.

The one catch is that both Costco and Sam’s Club have restrictive payment options so make sure you have the right kind of credit card or are prepared to pay by check. For more expensive prescriptions this may not be a very palatable option, so if you are going to go this route a lot, look into a no annual fee version of the right credit card.

Wal-Mart and $4 Prescriptions

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you no doubt have heard about Wal-mart introducing $4 prescriptions for certain medications. Keep in mind that this is only for certain GENERIC prescriptions. You can’t get a generic version of a drug that is still under patent protection. However, if you are getting a prescription for an “extended release” or other “all day” type prescription and are responsible enough to take more than one dose per day, see if there is a non-extended version availible and discuss having your doctor re-write your prescription to it. A sneaky trick that a lot of pharmaceutical companies use is to sell a “regular” release formula for the full length of the patent. Then, just as the patent is about to expire they come out with a “new” extended release version and get a few more years of patent protection to sell that one. The regular version is just as good, only you’ll have to take it more than once a day. If it’s generic it might be on the $4 list. If not, it will still be a lot cheaper than the brand name extended formula is.

Other stores are following Wal-mart’s move. Target offers a list of $4 prescriptions as well. Here in Colorado, Safeway offers a list. One thing to keep an eye out for is stores that will match other prices. That means you could be getting your prescription for $4, but only if you ask!

Insurance

Obviously, the best scenario is to have good insurance. But, even if you do, chances are you pay a smaller co-pay for generic drugs. Also, there is a good chance that you can get a discount if you buy certain “maintenance” drugs via mail. With this system, you get a 90-day supply for a 60-day price or something along those lines. This can save you a lot if you have multiple prescriptions. Make sure it is worth it to you though. Someone with asthma getting a generic inhaler once a month probably isn’t going to save enough to make it worth the hassle.

Shop Around

The price difference between pharmacies can be huge! In general, the big box stores like Target and Wal-mart will have cheaper prices than stand alone pharmacies. Walgreens can be one of the most expensive, so you might want to check. Most places don’t list prices on the Internet, but they’ll be willing to tell you if you call, especially if you say you are thinking about transferring a prescription. Call up Target, or whoever, and say, “I’m thinking about switching my whatever prescription over to you. Can you tell me what it would cost? Have your bottle ready because they’ll probably ask you questions you don’t know the answer to. “Is that the diffused formula or the titrated formula?” It probably says on the bottle.

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Personal Finance and Prescriptions originally published at Personal Finance Blog - FinanceGourmet.com

I’ve become obsessed with themes in WordPress. Nothing seems to be exactly what I want, although there are a lot of great themes out there. Currently I’m using this grid based theme (see credit in footer). I’ve been hacking at it for a while now, and I’m not sure it looks as good as the one on another site of mine Undefeated Daddy which is using the WP Premium theme with virutally no hacking (just to make things work in my file structure). So, it continues…

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WordPress Theme Hacking originally published at Personal Finance Blog - FinanceGourmet.com

Ok, so nothing at all on the house for two weeks. It was very weird because we were having a few showings every weekend day and one or two the other days with an off day every now and then. Then, all of the sudden, nothing! I checked everything out to make sure a phone number wasn’t wrong or anything.

We panicked and called our realtor friend. She said not to worry and that these things go in cycles. Incidentally, this kind of hand holding is part of what you pay a real estate agent for. Anyway, the funny part is that the day she got back to me, I get a call. They want to setup a showing for…NOW. Oh, great, thanks for the notice. So, I race around and clean up the place (baby toys EVERYWHERE!) Then, two showing for Saturday. So, hopefully everything is still on track.

Related posts:

1. Selling Your Own Home – Day 16, 17, 18, 19
2. Selling Your Own Home – Day 4

Selling Your Own Home – Time Warp originally published at Personal Finance Blog - FinanceGourmet.com

The 401(k) Primer is up at www.financegourmet.com

Direct Link to 401(k) Primer

Related posts:

1. Part 4 and Part 5 of Financial Advisor and Financial Planner Primer is up!
2. It… Is… Alive!

New 401(k) Primer Up originally published at Personal Finance Blog - FinanceGourmet.com

Maybe I’m a little late to the party, but I just got a hold of [tag]Windows Live Writer[/tag], and I have to tell you it makes posting to the blog way easier! I love it. Anyway it is part of Windows Live which is apparently Microsoft’s attempt to compete with Google’s expanding repertoire of free online products. [tag]Microsoft[/tag] doesn’t make it easy to find though. Here is the direct link:

http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com/

Related posts:

1. Save Big with Microsoft Live Search CashBack and a Cash Back Credit Card

Windows Live Writer originally published at Personal Finance Blog - FinanceGourmet.com

I’ve decided to do a new series here at Finance Gourmet on the psychology of [tag]money[/tag].  Virtually all the emails I get and questions I’m being asked from both online and in person lately have to do more with psychology than they do with raw numbers and math.  I already have about eleven topics ready to go and I’m sure more will pop up as I go along.  Don’t miss out on any of them by:

Getting the RSS feed

Related posts:

1. Paying Off Your House Mortgages and Money Psychology
2. Wells Fargo Proves Good Banks Can Make Money

Money Psychology originally published at Personal Finance Blog - FinanceGourmet.com