The Addison Cafe

I think it’s obvious that Domino’s isn’t the cream of the crop when it comes to pizza. But they aren’t trying to be; that isn’t their niche. They provide an acceptable product at a lower price…kind of like WalMart. And that’s ok with me. In fact, going through my college and newlywed years, I enjoyed many Domino’s pizzas at an affordable price.

However, my cheap pizza bubble was recently burst when I ordered a large two topping pizza. When I went in to pick it up, there was a giant banner outside that said something to the effect of “Customer Appreciation – Large 1 topping pizza for $5.99″. In the past with deals like this, I would order the special and just pay a buck or two for an extra topping. So you can imagine my surprise when I walked up to the counter and asked if I could take advantage of the offer and pay for the second topping and was told, “Nope. You have to mention the offer on the phone”.

Me: “But you didn’t tell me about it, so how would I know?”

Them: “You have to mention it on the phone.”

Me: “Yeah, you just said that. Is there any way possible you can give me that offer?”

Them: “No, you have to mention it on the phone.”

Me: Blank stare.

Them: “That will be $17.99 please.”

So I had to pay 18 bucks for the “customer appreciation” pizza plus a topping. I didn’t feel very appreciated. And you know what? I haven’t been back since.

On the other hand, T-Mobile doesn’t need a “special” to show appreciation to their customers. They just do it, every time I call.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “What you do speaks so loud I cannot hear what you say.” Thanks Ralph.

I am no world traveler. In fact, the only times I have ever left the country it has been to Canada or Mexico by car. However, that might start to change after knowing what I now know…

There are two big costs associated with travel: getting there (typically flight costs) and staying there (nightly lodging costs can add up). You can now say goodbye to the second one. Some friends of mine recently let me in on a little known secret on how to stay for free in over 250 countries worldwide (including ours).

It’s called “couch surfing”. People from all over the world have joined together to form a community of hosts and travelers. Here’s how it works: At couchsurfing.org you can list where you are located, when you are available, and how many people you can host. You can say yay or nay to any request that comes your way. If you are a traveler, just search for people with an open couch in the city / country of your choice and if they accept (which they probably will since they are members of the community), you have a free place to stay. It’s a great way to meet a variety of people, have an adventure, and save some serious cash.

Oh, and “couch” doesn’t necessarily mean couch. A lot of people have spare rooms and nice houses, not dirty dorm room mattresses. Bon voyage!

Maybe. We just launched a new promotion called “Bank Intervention” and you can check it out at bankintervention.com (imagine that).  Two things to think about:

1.  It’s our first stab at video like this. I am curious if you love it or hate it. There’s a series of 7 short clips that are supposed to be funny (we think they are).

2. It’s also our first time weaving Twitter into a campaign. Just tweet your thoughts about big banks and include #bankintervention and be automatically entered to win $250. You don’t even have to be a member.

Let me know what you think.

No, I am not your father. The truth you need to be aware of is what makes a credit union what it is; something that seems to be a well guarded secret these days. Sounds super boring, I know (hang in there, I’m going somewhere with this). So here is a quick and dirty overview of the core principles of a co-op (borrowed from here and the complete list can be found here):

The 7 Cooperative Principles:

Principle #1 (inclusive): membership should be open to all
Principle #2 (voice): members should call the shots
Principle #3 (benefit): rates and fees should benefit our members
Principle #4 (independent): autonomy and independence set us apart
Principle #5 (education): financial education should be free and available to all
Principle #6 (cooperation): cooperation among cooperatives is vital
Principle #7 (community): concern for community

While we serve our members on every one of those levels, I wanted to focus on number seven: concern for community. Sounds like typical corporate speak…except it isn’t. You see, we just invested a lot of time, energy, and money to launch an online community called Addison Avenue Groups where you can go join a discussion (or start your own) about any financial issue, topic, or question that comes to mind. You can now leverage the wisdom of thousands, online, any time, for free. Instead of typing a bunch of instructions here, I will let you explore it for yourself. Just go groups.addisonavenue.com and enjoy.

(Note: you must be logged into Online Banking to post anything)

When I think of budget killers, two things come to mind: cars and food.  The one I want to focus on today is food. 

Everyone has their favorite food, whether it’s dirty take out (Nom Nom) or caviar and escargot.  Whatever your preference, eating out too much can really affect how much you save each month.  On one hand, restaurant food tastes great (usually) and can provide a fun experience. On the other, you don’t have anything to show afterwards; your money is gone and so is your meal.

So how much is enough?  Some avoid eating out at all costs, and if they do, they opt for the dollar menu and drink water. Others throw caution to the wind and pork out whenever they have the urge. I know it comes down to personal preference, but does anyone have any wisdom on the matter? What should the balance be?

I went surfing for the first time last month. Well, I wouldn’t call it surfing. More like falling over a bunch and drinking gallons of salt water for several hours.  While I was busy doing that, my wife was busy having the time of her life bodyboarding. Despite my insult to the sport of surfing, it was a blast. So much so that we now both own wetsuits and body boards (yes, I bought a bodyboard and not a surfboard…success comes more frequently to me on those).

The wetsuits were on sale and we bought your basic run of the mill bodyboards. Overall, the cost for one person is about $250. But from here on out everything is free. Using the ocean? Free. Time limits? None. We don’t have to put a quarter in to ride a wave (oops, hopefully I didn’t give the government any ideas). If the gear lasts a while, as it should (years hopefully), we now have a free hobby outside the cost of gas.

Hobbies like that are the best kind…finding something you can do that once you’re setup, the activity is unlimited and free. Kayaking, photography, most forms of exercise, clubs for things like chess and cribbage, etc.  Ironically, watching movies and cable television, while fun, continually cost money and provide little benefit.

Any good free-once-you’re-setup hobby suggestions?

I stumbled across a blog the other day where a family said they put themselves through “The no spend month challenge”. Each year during the month of July they try to go the entire time with virtually no spending in addition to their recurring bills (except for $250 for bare essentials such as gas, food, etc). What’s impressive is that they are a family of three. I could see that challenge not being too difficult for a single person, but having a family is a whole different game. 

Do you think you would save more by trying something like that? Knowing myself, I would feel like I did such a good job I would blow any money I had saved in the following month. Still, might be worth a shot…

Sometimes we get so used to life that we start to trust everything and question nothing.  Specifically, we forget that every company wants the same thing and they will do anything to get it: your money. Sure, they can be nice, quality, and ethical. But at the end of the day, they just want to make a buck off you. I have been taking some advertising classes and realizing how hard people work to get you to trust a brand name. Don’t get me wrong, this can actually be a good thing. It’s just amazing to look at the psychology behind consumer purchases.

For instance, you know that new car smell that you love so much? Turns out it’s fake. They manufacture a scent that they spray into the carpet to give it that smell. Cologne for cars. Sure, the car will naturally smell new to a degree, but you are primarily smelling a chemical designed to appeal to your sense of smell and entice you to buy the car. Sneaky.

I wonder what would happen if people started wearing it. I probably could have benefited from some in high school.

Careful how quickly you trust; sometimes you have no idea how bad people want your hard earned money.

My wife loves Christmas music. I love Christmas music. The difference is that she likes it about 3 months earlier than I do. Starting on Halloween, if not sooner, the sounds of Bing Crosby and Charlie Brown’s Christmas album fill my living room. For some reason, it feels like eating dinner for breakfast; as if there is some unspoken moral code that prohibits it. But we put that in our wedding vows so I can’t complain (just kidding).

My point is that for some of us, sometimes it is hard to think about Christmas early, especially when it comes to buying presents. Usually I wait until the last 2 weeks and frantically put everything together – it feels so natural.  However, that is usually the recipe that leads to people a) putting themselves in debt from big spending and lack of budgeting, or b) all of a sudden they find they don’t have the money to buy anyone else anything.

Technically, now is the best time to start shopping for Christmas; picking out a gift here and a gift there and being pleasantly surprised by how much you have left in the bank when the holidays actually roll around.

So will I change my habits? I don’t know, but it’s something to think about…

If you eat a hamburger that someone behind the counter of a fast food restaurant spit in, sure, ignorance is bliss.  But when you get taken advantage of and ripped off when buying a good or service you know nothing about, ignorance is not bliss.

I recently went to a major retailer to buy a new 23″ HP monitor. When checking out, I was relentlessly offered “extra protection” for “not that much more” because “you know how technology fails”.  My response? I told them I was buying HP and wouldn’t be needing “extra protection”, but if I ever bought another brand from them I would be sure to get it.  Same thing when I was generously offered a $2000 extended warranty on my Scion. I told them “sorry, Toyotas/Scions rarely break down so I won’t be needing it.” They still pressed. Maybe they have never seen the movie “Tommy Boy” where Chris Farley eloquently explains that essentially, guarantees, extra protection, warranties, etc are all basically labeling a product as worthless. It’s like saying “hey, when it breaks (because it will), come back and we will give you another one that will break”.

Granted not ALL coverage plans are bad news, but too often I see people that don’t know what pixels, drive trains, power supplies, etc are and so they buy out of fear that this “thing” they know nothing about will break. Ignorance with consumer products can end up costing a lot.

Personal philosophy: 99% of the time I pass on the insurance, warranty, etc, knowing that all the money I will save over the years will far exceed the amount I will have to spend on the item or two that breaks down once in a blue moon.