Money Blue Book

Ah water…the lifeblood of the planet, covering more than 70 percent of Earth. It falls from the sky for free and trickles out of the tap at a simple twist of the knob - yet many of us choose to pay for it in bottled form, myself included.

Bottle water isn’t cheap either. It frequently costs the same if not more than other drinks. Whoever came up with the idea of packaging and marketing something that could be obtained for free is an absolute genius. It’s not like the bottle water contents been fortified with nutrition or vitamins either. Many brands of water are simply that - plain old water. The source of the water is frequently the same as that available through the tap.

Quality-Wise, Bottled Water Is Not Necessarily Better Than Free Tap Water

The bottled water you buy at your grocery store usually comes from mountain aquifers or underground wells. However, unless you examine the labels carefully, many simply contain purified water, which is essentially plain old tap water that has been treated further. However, there is a misconception that bottled water is better because it’s gone thorough extra filtration steps. That is not necessarily the case. There are currently no uniform standards governing the filtration of commercially sold bottled water. In fact, public municipal and city water treatment plants frequently have much more rigorous treatment procedures and quality assurance standards than that required by commercial brands.

Why Drink Bottled Water Then? For Convenience!

But there’s no denying that the greatest benefit of drinking bottled water is the convenience factor. Out for an errand? Grab a plastic bottle and stash it for later. It’s just a very handy way to have something refreshing to drink while on the go. Healthy humans are supposed to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day and many don’t consume enough. Switching to bottled water promotes and encourages more water drinking in my opinion. I drink much more water than I used to now that I’ve switched to bottled water. Before, I used to consume bottled drinks like coke or sugar laden sodas because they were the most convenient source of liquids. Now I have a much healthier option.

Yes it does sound strange to pay for something you could easily get for free but what I give up, I get back through time saved and better health. I used to consume tons of sugar, but switching to bottled water has cut down my soda drinking substantially. No more glass washing or relying on expensive Brita or Pur water filters either.

Encouraging Bottled Water Drinking Seems Counter To Conventional Frugality Concepts

I think the vast majority of personal finance advisers and bloggers promote cutting things like bottled water and expensive coffee habits from one’s daily routine. I sort of agree on the coffee, but I think the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to bottled water. Of course you shouldn’t pay $6 for a pack of 24 waters, or $4 for a single jug of the expensive stuff. After all, water is water. What I am willing to extra more for is not for any extra boost in quality, since I think the consistency of water is all the same. What I am willing to pay the extra small premium for is the convenience and promotion of healthy consumption habits that it provides.

I always buy bottled water in bulk and try to snag deals when waters are at $2 or so for a pack of 24. Although I don’t have Costco membership anymore, they do have one of the best deals for bulk pallets of water - something like $2.50 for a pack of 32 bottles!

I have a friend who recently got married in an arranged marriage according to his traditional Indian culture. Because it was an arranged marriage organized by family members without the benefit of prior dating, the bride and groom are still getting to know each other. After only a few weeks of marriage, there are already a few wrinkles he is starting to learn about his new wife.

She Likes To Have Expensive Things To Show Off

My friend’s wife enjoys material possessions, and not necessarily for the right reasons. She wants to buy expensive things not because she needs it, but because she sees them as status symbols and items that need to be possessed so they can better rival other couples.

Recently his wife asked him to buy her a brand new large 42 inch plasma television. Now that’s a very big TV. However, since coming to this country from India only a few weeks since the marriage, she has yet to turn on or even watch any of the existing television sets in their house. Yet somehow she suddenly wants to acquire a premium, top of the line model. Her reason? Because everyone else in the neighborhood owns a nice large flat screen and so she wants one too. They currently already own three pre-existing CRT televisions sets. Neither of them have a history of watching much television to begin with and they don’t even have cable television service because they don’t use it. Her sudden impulse to want to own a large expensive flat screen television set was motivated by her discussions with other couples in their relatively affluent neighborhood. If she was a frequent television watcher I would understand and appreciate her desire for a brand spanking new set, but my friend has yet to even hear her express an interest in watching TV.

It would be like my old fashioned mom demanding a Nintendo Wii because all of the other households in the neighborhood own one. She and I both know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she has no interest in video games, instead finding them to be a waste of time, and not having much practical use for it.

Don’t Waste Your Money On Unnecessary Things, But Rather Invest It

Buying expensive or even inexpensive items because you want the status-attribution associated with them is just plain silly and a waste of financial resources. You are better off saving and investing the money wisely to grow it for your future needs.

Only a few months ago I was lustily eying one of the new fancy Verizon Wireless Blackberry phones that had just been released. The price tag was an astounding $400 without a binding cell phone contract. I wanted one badly because of the prestige factor - to be able to childishly show it off in public for the professional aura it conveyed. Six months later I am glad I did not commit to the purchase. I still have my old phone and it continues to serve me loyally. New phone models have come and gone since then and the phone I originally wanted has already been replaced by a new upgraded model.

Prestige is overrated and only temporary. Be comfortable with who you are and keep your eye on the prize - true financial security and fiscal responsibility for your future.

We’re in the new millennium people! The internet age is already in full swing and I think it’s time for everyone to start embracing the advantages of new technology. For important document archiving and preservation purposes, it’s time to migrate from dinosaur paper technology and move into an all digital and electronic format.

If you don’t know how to access all of your bank and credit card accounts online, now is a good time to start learning how to. There are so many benefits to going fully electronic. Storing and accessing your account information online gives you instant and accurate data at your finger tips without having to wait for them to arrive through snail mail. The information you can get online is always more accurate and precise, as they are frequently updated on the spot as transactions occur.

By going paperless you can also reduce clutter. Before I went electronic, my postal mailbox was always being jammed with bills, statements, and all sorts of financial junk mail. My desk frequently had stacks of papers that just seemed to grow higher and higher. Going digital helped to cut down on the chances of losing something important in the mail or accidentally misplacing it somewhere at home or at the office. However, embracing paperless storage does require a reasonable amount of trust and faith in the reliability of technology.

I Organize My Paperless Financial Accounts Using An Online Aggregation Service

For all of my credit cards, bank statements, utility bills, and miscellaneous payment obligations, I no longer receive any of them through the regular mail service, but instead access all of them exclusively through the internet. Online e-mail based reminders alert me whenever I need to make payments or when there is something that requires my attention. Since I check my personal e-mail fanatically, the e-mail alerts are essentially real time reminders.

I use Yodlee’s Fidelity Full View to consolidate all of my financial information including my bank accounts, credit cards, investment portfolio, and frequent user reward accounts. It’s also an invaluable online way to organize, view, and keep tabs on all of my important transactions.

I Use a Digital Scanner and Digital Camera To Make a Photocopy Of Important Paper Documents

For important paper documents that I’m not able to receive in its original digital form, I like to either use a digital scanner or a digital camera to photo record them into electronic format. Examples of such important paper documents include speeding tickets, identification cards, pay stubs, or sales receipts that I want to retain because I’m currently disputing a transaction for example. Rather than keeping these documents in binders or in huge piles, I keep them all neatly filed away in well labeled directories on my computer hard drive. They are there whenever I need them at a moment’s notice and pulling them up is a piece of cake. As a precaution, I back up the files occasionally onto a separate external hard drive or burn them onto a compact disc for safe keeping.

Other Considerations Like Passwords, Security, and Encryption

By going fully digital, it’s important to have a way to keep track of your important passwords and ensure that your information is always fully secure. I have many passwords, but I organize them all onto one of my secret Yahoo email accounts using the Yahoo Notepad function. I’m sure I might catch some heat from those who feel storing such important information on one’s e-mail account is asking for trouble, but frankly, if my information is not fully secure with a mega company like Yahoo, would it really be any more secure with any other service?

We give out so much password information to various companies out there but at some point we need to trust that they will do their job to protect our confidential information. Most financial institutions fully encrypt their online website accounts so that shouldn’t be an issue either. I have faith that technology will continue to improve and get even better over time. I also take additional precautions by not using one password for all of my accounts. All of my passwords vary greatly from each other.

Unless you are the National Association of Realtors (with their weird predictions), you are living in the realm of reality and are aware of what is going on in the real estate market. Unless you are NAR, you’re probably well aware that most reputable research groups and real estate analysts continue to report a dismal housing market.

The real estate market was so hot for many years and now it’s finally tanked and appears to be poised for a lengthy bear run. I was in the market for a new house but have decided to pull out until markets have bottomed out. I know it’s difficult if not impossible to accurately predict if and when the bottom has arrived, but based on current conditions, I don’t think we are close to the abyss yet.

The problem with housing is that it’s no longer about location, location anymore. Now it’s all about supply, supply. Mortgage rates could decrease with further Federal Reserve rate cuts, but so long as sellers refuse to budge from their highly priced home listings, the supply will continue to grow, creating a seller’s bubble of its own.

We Have Only Begun To See the Downturn

Latest research reports show that housing prices have steadily fallen since the summer, although there are pockets of relative tame changes in areas like the Northeast part of the United States. As grim as it may seem, I think the worst is yet to come and I doubt we will see any appreciable recovery for many years, at least until 2010.

The biggest problem right now is the wide discrepancy in pricing reality between buyers and sellers, and the sense of denial gripping many home sellers. Currently there is a very large glut and oversupply of homes in the real estate market that is contributing to the stagnant market. During the summer, reports indicated that the glut had grown to its largest size ever in the last 16 years with more than a 9.6 month supply of homes for sale with figures steadily increasing. Foreclosures are up but sellers refuse to budge from their high asking prices. I think the homes that have managed to sell are the limited few that are contributing to the skewed appearance of stable home prices.

Currently, home builders are reporting terrible demand for new homes and projects. Even with the decline in housing prices, there is still a significant drag in the movement of houses. When sellers eventually realize that they won’t be able to get close to their asking price, they will be forced to lower their prices significantly or face the prospect of not being able to sell their home at all. When that happens, we are likely to see a drastic downward plunge in prices when this oversupply bubble pops.

I know there are legions of people like me who are patiently waiting in the wings for prices to depreciate significantly before entering the market for a home. Prices in my area will need to plummet at least 10-25% before I would even consider buying. I am actually hoping for the mortgage crisis to severely worsen so I can go bargain hunting in 2-3 years in the aftermath of the housing collapse. In the meantime, I am happily renting.