frugal underground

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My husband and I have long dreamed of being able to quit our respective jobs and spend time working on various open source projects and personal interests. (I know we’re not the only ones!) We’re on track to pay off our house in not too many more years, but one of the things we’ve been concerned about is health insurance. Subsidized by an employer (as it is now), the premiums are relatively low and all is well. But the rates we’ve seen when you go it alone are brutal. Good news, though! Recently I’ve discovered two potential solutions.

The first is eHealthInsurance. Using this free, online service, I can find out what plans are available to me as an individual and compare coverage, rates, and deductibles. I found one that would probably work well for my husband and I that runs just over $100/month. It has a high deductible but is an eligible plan for HSA (which I care a lot about). This makes sense for our family because we don’t go to the doctor very often, but when we really need medical care, it’s likely to soar well above the deductible (this is based on our lifestyle—prime example being the rock wall accident that broke my husband’s back and ended up costing $100k+—yay, insurance!).

The other option that interests me is Ebay’s Health Insurance Plan as reported by Jim. It’s a little more work (you have to do something to qualify for it) but as the time gets closer, I’ll definitely be looking into it to find out if it’s substantially better than my other options. It would be pretty simple to qualify (at least at the lower tiers), so this will certainly be something to consider.

Are you insured through an employeer or on your own? I’d love any tips you might have to offer, either way.

ABN AMRO happens to be the bank holding our mortgage, so a few things have caught my eye recently.

First, we recently received a letter from them telling us that we were among the 2 million customers whose data is on a tape that was lost in transit to a credit reporting bureau. This wasn’t exactly good news (considering our social security numbers and other rather personal information was involved), but it seemed to be a mistake that wasn’t the bank’s fault (DHL actually lost the data) and they were trying to make it right by offering a free 90 days of credit monitoring.

Now the latest news is that the tape was found (yay!) at the same facility where it was lost (oops?). According to the article, ABN AMRO is extending the 90 day credit monitoring offer for a full year. I might actually bother to sign up, assuming there aren’t any crappy auto-extensions.

While I’m happy about the tape thing, I’m a little disturbed by other ABN AMRO news: US fines ABN AMRO Bank $80 million. Apparently they aren’t doing a good enough job of preventing money laundering. Of course, I’m generally opposed to money laundering, but I’m more annoyed that they are getting fined. Clearly, if other banks are not getting fined, this is preventable. $80 million may not be that much to a bank, but they’re going to have to cover it somehow, and as one of their customers, I don’t like that. One way or another, expenses get passed on—if not to me, then to some other customer some other day.

Of course, this whole post really doesn’t have a “good” action step, because the bank is the one with the loan and therefore the power. I just keep paying (and as long as it’s according to the terms I signed on with, I’m fine with that). I just hope that ABN AMRO doesn’t have any more mishaps!

Have a sewing machine or access to one? I’ve just posted a tutorial on Crafty Geek called “How to make a rice bag”. The supplies are just a hand towel (check the dollar store), 5 pounds of rice, and a little bit of thread, so it’s extremely affordable, and it’s a great gift (especially for people who are always cold) because they add comfort to the recipient’s life.

Edit: My Crafty Geek site has gone down (I am consolidating hosting right now), but you can see the Wayback Internet Machine’s copy of the rice bag tutorial in the meantime.

I’m trying a new toy. BlogExplosion, ever the innovators, have created a cool tool called “Rent my blog”. It’s kind of like some of the ad programs (Adbrite?), but it’s a person-to-person thing, and the whole point is to promote your site by helping others promote their sites. This takes the form of a cute little screenshot. You can see it on the right sidebar, probably on the second screen down.

I was kind of curious about how it all worked, so I set it all up and created an offer. I was pleased to receive a couple of bids relatively quickly, and actually all were good quality blogs so it was kind of hard to choose. After looking over them, though, I decide that The Global Perspective would probably be of the most interest to those of you who read this blog.

The Global Perspective is a site run by Daniel M. Harrison. He’s an MBA student in Oslo with some interesting experience in corporate finance. To give you a quick idea of what his site is about, his post categories are Academia, Current Affairs, Finance, Organizational Behaviour. In other words, a more corporate take on business and finance (as opposed to my mostly home-focus). Daniel writes very well and makes some excellent points in the posts I’ve read so far. Definitely worth the time to go and browse around a bit.

Welcome to the 25th Carnival of Personal Finance! We have a great selection of fabulous entries this week, and in the interest of almost-randomness, I’ve organized them in order of word count. Start at the beginning for bite-sized chunks flowing into essay-length pieces. Want to get down to the meaty stuff first? Start at the end and work your way up.

Take a tongue-in-cheek look at your grocery budget with Kim C of Life in a shoe: a peek into the methods and madness of one mother of 7 in her post, “Feel better fast about your food budget“: In it, she looks at what the USDA estimates to be the cost of feeding a family and provides some good (serious) links.

Tis the season for sale shopping. Savvy Saver discusses some of the perils that lurk in her post, “Foiled by a Sale.”

Canadian Capitalist tells it like it is in “To Not Diversify is Just Stupid“: “In a recent article, Robert Kiyosaki (of Rich Dad fame) suggests that investors looking to succeed should focus their investments and not diversify. While it is true that some very successful investors concentrate their portfolio, not diversifying is a terrible idea for the vast majority of investors.”

Jane Dough of Boston Gal’s Open Wallet declares, “I am going to try using FatCash while shopping online this month.” Jane Dough is continuing to try to save in everyway she can this holiday season. With that in mind she is going to try using the FatCash Cash Back feature on FatWallet.com to capture additional dollar savings.

Flexo of Consumerism Commentary takes a look at a recent article by guru and author, Robert Kiyosaki. Kiyosaki passes on some advice from his “rich dad” about diversification with investments, but is it good advice? Find out in “Diversification is for Amateurs.”

Tracy of Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise puts her money where her values are with “Socially Responsible Investing“: “Why my husband’s employer chose the investment company for his 403(b) and a link to a list of other socially responsible investing options.”

I love happy surprises! Foobarista of Foo Bar and Grill describes a nice one in “403(b) found money: does this happen often?“: “I didn’t know I had a 403(b) account at a job from 12 years ago, but I guess I did!”

New personal finance blogger Early Riser provides an interesting formula for evaluating employee stock options in the first post of a series, “Employee Stock Options - Part 1.”

Despite the fact that it doesn’t fit neatly into my quirky organizational system, Ironman of Political Calculations has done us a big favor with “Will You Be Checking Any Bags Today?“: “Strapped for cash, many airlines have turned to charging for things they used to provide for free. Political Calculations provides a tool for finding out how much it’ll cost to take that extra or heavy bag with you on your next trip!”

Most of know we should be planning for retirement. JLP of AllThingsFinancial takes a look at the connection between “Inflation and Your Retirement Plan.”

mbhunter of Mighty Bargain Hunter scores a great deal on a “Scratch and dent dryer“: “We ran across a ’scratch and dent’ dryer for a really good price just as our dryer was acting up.”

Yay, pre-tax dollars! Henry Stern of InsureBlog points out some good, encouraging statistics in “The ‘A’ in HSA“: “Folks with HSA plans are really starting to see their dollars grow.”

Looking for ways to cut energy costs? Chrees of Chrees’ World explains that you might have more incentive soon in “New tax credits.” The post is about new tax credits available for increasing energy efficiency. The credits are available for two years starting in 2006.

Financial advice from a cat? Why not? Zorro’s Stenographer of Zorro’s Retirement makes “A December Resolution“: “There is a time and place to buy giftcards and why wouldn’t you take advantage?”

Dustin of Financial Freedom 4 All urges you to “Sharing Services, Saving Serious Cash“: “Splitting the cost of various monthly services to save money and retain various ‘wants’ in life.”

What path you take depends on where you’re trying to go. TT of Retire at 30 questions assumptions and comes up with his own in “Rational Assumptions for Personal Financial Freedom.”

It’s all about balance, right? Cathy of CFO: Chief Family Officer explains how she finds balance in “Grocery Shopping: Health vs. Wealth.” She offers tips for eating healthier without spending a lot more money.

Take some advice given to someone else and read this post by Empty Spaces of Adventures in Money Making called “Living off dividends [or how to invest in Real Estate for cashflow].” The advisee wants to be able to live off his dividends at some point and he’s wondering how real estate fits in. The advice here on real estate investing is solid and a great starting point for anyone who wants to know more about the topic.

jim of Blueprint for Financial Prosperity presents insightful viewpoint on the direction of real estate in his post, “Expect Housing Sale Price Drops As Rates Rise“: “As interest rates rise, don’t be surprised when a $300,000 house sells for $270,000. A $300k mortgage at 5.5% has the same monthly payment as a $270k mortgage at 6.5%.” There are also some excellent comments on this post.

ncnblog of No Credit Needed frequently gets the question, “You Can Do That?.” In this post, he relates some of the things he does for his financial well-being that surprise people.

Nina of Sitting Pretty ties childhood game strategies to investing in “Board Games“: “Cash is king – both in childhood board games and real life.”

Tom Hanna of Financial Options gives us an overview of “The Week Ahead - December 3, 2005.” This day-by-day outline points out the important financial landmarks for the next five days.

It’s Christmas shopping time! If you’re in a hurry (or are just impatient), nickel of Five Cent Nickel has some good information for you about the”Free 4 Month Trial of Amazon.com Prime“: “Just in time for the holiday shopping season… A free trial of Amazon Prime, a special shipping program from Amazon.com. Your mileage may vary in getting in on this deal, but free two-day shipping and cheap overnight shipping just might save your butt as Christmas draws ever closer.”

Deputyheadmistress of The Common Room shares a beautiful, frugal “Easy Christmas Decoration.” I’m going to have to start scouring the thrift stores for ornaments now.

Clint of Million Dollar Goal takes second look at the whole idea that everyone needs a traditional three to six months worth of expenses emergency fund in “Do You Need an Emergency Fund?”

Free Money Finance gives us a good summary of an MSN article in his post, “13 Ways to Live Well on Less.” The full series gives readers 13 simple ways to easily cut spending.

Kay Bell of Don’t Mess With Taxes provides very well-written commentary on homeowner tax breaks. Take a look a t”A new homeowner tax break on the horizon?“: “Rather than reduce homeowner tax breaks as recommended by the Tax Reform Panel, it looks like Congress may create a new one.”

David Porter of Pacesetter Mortgage Blog looks at three ways that people deal with their home equity in “Will Americans Spend the Wealth Created by the Housing Bubble Boom?“: “Americans have only three choices regarding their home equity: 1. Do nothing; 2. Spend it; 3. Invest it.”

Old Niu of Old Niu’s Blog covers one idea-spurring indicator in “Buy the Expensive“: “When you look for investment ideas, companies or industry sectors that commend the pricing power are definitely worthwhile looking into. Better yet, you could spot the pricing power as a savvy consumer.”

In a thorough and well-informed post, Dan Melson of Searchlight Crusade takes on the task of “Debunking The Fallacy of Index Funds“: “This is nothing short of the most successful sales pitch based upon a straw man argument in history.”

Thanks for stopping by the Carnival this week! Next week’s Carnival will be held at Wealth Junkie. Read the rules and submit an entry of your own before 5 p.m. EST on Sunday.

As I mentioned on my Ten Dollar Verdict post, I’m launching a new blog. I’ve decided to focus it on the generic topic of crafts, and since I’m a geek, here it is: Crafty Geek. It’s very much still in launch stage, as it only has one post, but that will be increasing shortly.

I was going to make it just be about knitting, but I realized that, given my gnat-like attention span, I’d be better off going with something that will be relevant when I hop to stenciling or beading or whatever random crafty thing will come next (actually, it will probably be crocheting). The individual posts will focus on specific projects, products, craft disciplines, etc., so the ads will still be targetted and relevant, and the back posts will come up in Google for specific searches.

With my first $30 in revenue specifically from Crafty Geek, I’m going to launch the review site I mentioned.