Money Blue Book

Yesterday, Bank of America raised its ATM surcharge fee for non customers at most of its ATM’s nationwide to $3 from $2. The news is significant for many people because Bank of America operates the largest ATM network in the United States and the higher fees could affect millions who do not hold consumer banking accounts there.

Such news barely raised a blip on my radar frankly. They could raise the ATM fee to $100 for non Bank of America account holders such as myself, and I still wouldn’t be phased. That’s because I pay for everything almost exclusively by using credit cards.

Switch From Cash To Credit Cards

Now is a good time to reiterate what I’ve been trying to tell people all along. If you are a responsible credit user, the simplest and most routine way to save money and even make some extra money is to use credit cards. It’s time to stop paying everything using cash.

We’ve finally evolved from a trade and barter society into a cash market. Now it’s time to take one step further and transition into plastic. ATM surcharges are sure to increase across the board to match Bank of America’s move, so it’s time to stop those daily and sometimes expensive visits to your neighborhood ATM to withdraw cash. Why carry around so much cash and end up with the inevitable jingling coins in your pocket or purse?

To be fair, the regular and exclusive use of credit cards isn’t for everyone. Some people truly have difficulty handling the responsibility of tracking their spending habits and remembering to budget enough to pay off the balance in full each month. For people who don’t have the necessary discipline, it’s best to stick with cash or debit cards. But for the rest of the people, what’s in your wallet?

Take Advantage of Credit Card Benefits

Not only do you not have to deal with loose change when you use credit cards to purchase everything, you can use them to earn cash back or reward points redeemable for gift cards or merchandise. I use my favorite combination of reward credit cards to earn over $750 a year in cash and reward savings. Some might scoff and say it’s not worth the hassle, but keep in mind that this is extra money you would otherwise not have. Money accumulated from various sources will add up in the long run.

Paying everything through credit cards also has the added benefit of allowing me to fully track my spending habits. I can run through my monthly statements and easily figure out where I spent my money. With cash purchases, I would have to cumbersomely wade through a pile of receipts.

But the best part is that I’m not putting in any extra effort or going out of my way to use credit cards. I’m just going about my daily routine while silently accruing cash back and reward savings.

I do carry around some cash in my wallet though, but it’s only there for emergencies when credit cards aren’t accepted, which is an infrequent occurrence. I do visit my bank’s own ATM’s once in a blue moon, but I never use another bank’s. I have never paid extra ATM surcharges in my life and I don’t plan to start anytime soon.

I have been noticing a strange trend in the e-mail spam I’ve been receiving over the last year or so. There has been a steady stream of investment and stock related spam, each promoting a particular company’s stock. Usually these are penny stocks of obscure companies in the lower rung of the stock market.

Do People Actually Fall For Spam Investment Advice?

The thing that makes me wonder is whether investment spam has a perceivable effect on market activity and spam targeted stock prices. My first guess would be that there shouldn’t be an effect because who would be so gullible and naive to trade on information received in the form of spam? But sadly, as a testament to the fallibility of humankind, and the validity of the phrase “there’s a sucker born every minute,” spam DOES have a perceptible effect on targeted stock prices.

According to some research, investment spam does have a significant impact on certain parts of the stock market. One research indicates that:

Based on a large sample of touted stocks listed on the Pink Sheets quotation system and a large sample of spam emails touting stocks, we find that stocks experience a significantly positive return on days prior to heavy touting via spam. Volume of trading responds positively and significantly to heavy touting. For a stock that is touted at some point during our sample period, the probability of it being the most actively traded stock in our sample jumps from 4% on a day when there is no touting activity to 70% on a day when there is touting activity. Returns in the days following touting are significantly negative.

Yes, Spammers Do Make Money, But Beware!

However, don’t think you can hurry and trade on the investment spam “advice” to make a quick profit. By the time you have received the spam, the surge in volume the hype has generated will have likely run its course, prepping the stock for a massive post-hype fall. The article indicates that:

Before brokerage fees, the average investor who buys a stock on the day it is most heavily touted and sells it 2 days after the touting ends will lose close to 5.5%.

So, don’t trade on investment spam! It’s just plain dumb.

It looks like I may be taking a few overnight road trips in the next few weeks. It’s a pleasure to stay at an elegant hotel, but sometimes you just want to crash at a more basic place to save some money. The hotel and motel partners of TripRewards don’t offer five star accommodation, but they do deliver a comfortable stay at a cheaper price. Their hotels include brands such as Days Inn, Ramada, and Super 8. You pretty much get what you pay for, but without breaking the bank. Through Trip Rewards, you can earn reward points for stays at participating hotels, redeemable for future stays or gift cards.

I’m not going out of my way to participate in the promotion. It’s just something extra for something I was planning on doing anyway.

Earn Bonus Points, Enough For a $25 Gift Card

This fall, Trip Rewards is offering a bonus points promotion, for the redemption equivalent of a $25 gift card. Complete two separate stays at a participating hotel from now until December 27 and you’ll earn enough points to redeem for a free $25 gift card. Remember, it’s two separate stays so consecutive nights still count as one stay, regardless of check in and check out. You will still earn the usual 10 Trip Rewards points for every $1 spent at a participating hotel.

The terms and conditions indicate that the bonus points awarded will be equal to 5,500 less the number of regular Trip Rewards points you earn for your stays, but will be at least 3,500 points. To participate you have to register for TripRewards if you haven’t already done so, and select the TripRewards points option.

Earn 500 Bonus Air Miles or Rail Points

The other promotional option lets you earn 500 bonus air miles or rail points if you stay twice at a TripRewards participating hotel from now until December 28. This is on top of the 2 miles per $1 you will still earn. To participate you have to register with TripRewards and select to earn air miles or rail points in your membership profile.

I think this company has been around for a few months now but it wasn’t until recently that I heard about them. If you have been searching for ways to earn more frequent flyer miles or have been trying to find ways to top off the accumulated miles of your frequent flyer plans, now you have another option through E-Miles. E-Miles is offering to give you mileage points but in return, you guessed it, you have to view video ads and then complete surveys pertaining to the products featured on the ads.

Once you register with them and complete a profile, you are paid mileage points for every ad you view. You can earn 10-20 miles for each 30 second video, and even more points for longer ads. The ads are provided to you based on your previously completed profile in which you indicated your interests. I recommend having as many interests as possible. I actually enjoy the process because it’s relatively painless and fairly quick. Earned mileage points are automatically deposited every quarter into the participating frequent flyer program of your choice.

Earning and Using the Miles

In general, a free domestic flight through most frequent flyer programs will run about 25,000 miles. If you regularly view the ads, you could reasonably earn a free domestic flight within a year. However, I only plan on using the program to help me get over the free ticket hump for my various frequent flyer plans. I could try to accumulate from scratch but than it would take much longer than I’d personally like.

Now the bad news. Currently, points earned through E-Miles are only good for Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, and US Airways. If your preferred plan is through another carrier, you’re out of luck for now. Hopefully the company will add more airlines soon.

Fortunately for me though, Continental and Northwest are my biggies. I should be able to rack up free flights in no time. I hope you can get something out of it as well.

Don’t forget the Starwoods Preferred Guest American Express Card. It’s my recommended travel rewards card for earning frequent flyer miles and for topping off your assorted frequent flyer plans.