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Katy Perry and Personal Finance: Maxing Out Those Credit Cards

After hearing a popular song a few times recently, I’ve been thinking about how Katy Perry relates to personal finance.

What? How are Katy Perry and personal finance related? Well, I’m sure she’s making a ton of money, so her financial situation is much different than any of ours, right? Well, that’s my assumption anyway. If I’m wrong and you’re pulling in millions per year, then that’s great for you:)

The real reason I think of Katy Perry and personal finance is her song “Last Friday Night”. In case you aren’t into that part of the music scene, that song is one of 5 from her latest album that reached #1 on the Billboard Top 100 Chart. This feat tied Michael Jackson for the most songs from the same album to reach #1. It’s a song where she talks about a crazy night out, including a line about maxing out credit cards!

Here’s the sequence in the song.

Last Friday Night

Yeah we maxed our credit cards

And got kicked out of the bar

So we hit the boulevard

Last Friday Night

Later in the song, after talking about a bunch of other wild and crazy antics from that night out, she says

This Friday Night

Do it all again

It’s a fun, catchy song many might agree. Clearly, it hit #1 on the charts.

It also apparently includes, in the narrative of the fun night out, maxing out credit cards as a part of it. I’ll bet very few people thought twice when hearing the lyrics to the song, with respect to that line. It seems like it signifies part of a great time, maxing out credit cards. There are other memorable lyrics in the song anyway I suppose. “Maxing out credit cards” probably won’t raise too many eyebrows, right?

Well, it didn’t get by this personal finance writer.

This maxing out credit cards for fun stuff is the type of behavior that gets people in all kinds of trouble. It’s too bad that these sorts of choices are glorified, especially for younger, impressionable people.

Of course, who in the world would enjoy lyrics about a fun night out that involved being frugal instead of saying that they maxed out their credit cards? Yeah, not many people. I know. Well, in any event, how about something like this:

Last Friday Night

Didn’t touch our credit cards

Saved our cash when at the bar

Fillin’ up the penny jar

Last Friday Night

Ok, I know. You don’t have to say it:)

I wonder if saving money will ever be cool? What do you think?

The Lucky Fortune Cookie

By Squirrelers 24 Comments

Have you ever had one of those little moments of luck, finding some money just laying around? Well, I had one of those days this past weekend.

I had just gotten a meal at a Chinese restaurant a few days prior, and at the end of the meal, got the customary fortune cookie. Along with the bill, of course:) Anyway, as I opened the cookie to look at the message, I smiled. Now, I’m not 100% certain what the exact words were, but it said something like:

“You will soon obtain an unexpected fortune”

Cool!

Yeah, it was just a fortune from a silly fotune cookie, but I got a kick out of it and smiled. Then, subsequently forgot about it a minute later.

Fast forward to a few days later. We had gone to the park, for kids to play. For much of the time, I was following kids from station to station, watching just to make sure all was ok but also following along because I kept hearing “Daddy, watch this!” or “Daddy, check this out!” It was fun, the type of moments that make life so great.

After a while, I felt like sitting down, so I headed to a picnic bench that was about 10 yards away. I figured I could keep an eye on things from there while resting a bit. No worries, right. All is good.

Well, all was not just good – it got really good! As I sat down, I noticed a dollar bill on the ground right behind the bench seat. There was no mistaking this for a wrapper, or any other paper – not to this Squirreler. This was money! Cold, hard cash!

I picked up the bill, and to my pleasant surprise, it wasn’t a dollar. Nope. It was a five dollar bill.

Very cool!

Now, I have to admit, the very first thing I thought of was what this $5 could turn into if I invested it. A little surprising to me now, thinking about it, that this is the first thing that came to mind. But it was. I looked at that $5 and envisioned $10 down the line, after time and compunding take effect! Clearly, I’ve been getting ingrained in personal finance, maybe too much:)

Then, the thought came over me. Most likely, someone dropped this while sitting here. I mean, it’s not like $5 came crashing down from the sky just for me. Somebody left it here, dropping it directly, or maybe it fell out of a purse. Who knows? So, I stayed there at the bench for a little while, watching the kids play. All the while, I was waiting for any grown-ups to come by looking for that $5.

Nobody came by for the next 15 minutes. Nobody was even anywhere near that part of the park, and the people that were on the other side of the park had just gotten there a few minutes ago anyway. I concluded that whoever dropped the $5 bill had left the premises a while ago.

At that point, as we were getting ready to leave, I just figured that I might was well keep it. Besides, didn’t that lucky fortune cookie predict that this would happen? 🙂

My Questions for You:

How often do you actually find bills, instead of coins? For me, it’s usually coins I notice, rarely bills. Same for you?

Ever get a fortune, from a fortune cookie, that you got a kick out of?

New Crazy Keywords

By Squirrelers 15 Comments

There are a few different ways that visitors can reach a blog. Some come from links on other blogs, some from bookmarks, and others type in the blog’s url into their browser. Yet others come from “organic search” where they use a search engine (vast majority of the time it’s Google) and type in keywords to find what they’re looking for.

These keywords are often straightforward and logical. However, they’re often surprising and make you wonder how they led someone to your blog when you look at your site’s analytics. Other times, they’re just downright wacky!

Along those lines, back in March is published a post called “Crazy Keywords”.

Well, I once again scanned Google Analytics to see how people found my site in organic search. This time, I looked at keywords from March, April, and May. In these last 3 months, there were some wacky ways people found Squirrelers. Here are some that caught my eye, and got me thinking…..

“3 siblings inherit 1 car” – Sounds like a tricky situation! Hint: carving it in 3 equal parts won’t help any!
“Discover Card Death Policy” – YIKES! I’ll be sure not to miss a payment in that case!
“How much per gal of gas 20 years ago” – Does this mean you’re looking for a nice gal made of gas, one who has gas, or what? Yeah, I know it means gallon, but apparently a part of my brain is stuck in 8th grade:)
“1000 windfall what class am I?” – Well, that’s a nice windfall but it doesn’t make you wealthy..and exactly how did that get someone to this site?
“airline tickets squirrel” – Perhaps you’re searching for a flying squirrel…there really is such a creature, after all!
“apple vs. potato chip nutrition” – I’ll go out on a limb here and give the nod to apples
“ban soda freedom” – I hope the sodas don’t have a revolution
“bmw good enough for teenager” – if it’s not good enough, then get the kid a Rolls Royce…or read the Squirrelers article on What Kind of a Car Should a Teenager by Driving to get some good advice from readers
“bubble gum machine squirrel” – I never knew squirrels had such talents
“can an alligator kill a human being” – Call me crazy, but I think so….but if you need to search the web just to make sure, feel free!
“can a grandma give money to his grandchildren” – Grandma giving to HIS grandchildren….I won’t ask
“can beefaroni expire” – Scary question for some reason
“can you think of another possible lurking variable that might affect the costs of subway fare or of a slice of pizza” – Seriously? People do search for the most unusual things, don’t they?
“centenarian avoids responsibilities” – just what responsibilities does someone over 100 years old need to have, anyway?
“how to live like a cheapskate” – you’re coming to the right place
“how not to live like a cheapskate” – you may not be coming to the right place
“my non mr fix it husband” – is someone bitter?
“oldcouple gone extreme wild” – I don’t want to know about these people
“sadistic lady owns you” – That sounds terrible! How did that get someone here, again?
“saving money like a squirrel” – Welcome to the site you’re looking for!
“stupid grandma”- Now that doesn’t sound very nice!
“tooth fairy actually wild” – Who knew!
“waitress wrote a happy face on my check” – I can help here: she isn’t into you at all, she just wants to get you to leave more money when tipping
“why do we have a haircut” – why, why, WHY?
“wild mad grandma” – watch out!

Which of these struck you as the silliest?

If you’re a blogger, have you checked on keywords – and if so, have you found any funny ones lately?

Priceless Baseball Opening Day Memories

By Squirrelers 14 Comments

Opening Day of the baseball season, here we come!

For me, this is a marker of a new season that’s beginning. Not just a new baseball season, but the “Season”. By this, I mean that it’s milestone that tells us that warmer weather and summer fun is on the way. Here in the Chicago area, it’s a big deal, after the cold winters – especially this year, with the epic storm that battered the area in February. Summer here is a true celebration, people that have moved here from other places across the country remark how great the season locally is because everyone’s so excited.

Anyway, being a sports fan, this reminds me of a time when I shelled out some cash, took a chance, and went to the Opening Day game in Chicago. It was well worth the money.

I was a high school junior, 17 years old, and we went to see the White Sox at the old Comiskey Park. It was torn down 20 years ago, but I still have many childhood/teen memories of the grand old place from an era long past. Including that season opener.

It was a risk because it was on a school day. You just couldn’t skip a day of school to go see a game. But we did it, and what a time it was.

We sat in the left field upper deck of the ancient ballpark, and watched the opener. It was kind of chilly, I remember that, but the seasons were clearly changing. Just being at the ballpark on opening day, with some buddies while in high school was great. Thinking of all the history at the old park, which opened in 1910, added to the aura of the afternoon. Lots of opening days too place there, and generations of fans had been going to old Comiskey Park for almost 80 years to see the White Sox. It was great to be a part of one.

What’s funny is that even though I’m a big fan, I don’t even remember who won that day. What I do remember was being a young guy going to the storied old ballpark on Opening Day, taking in all the sights, sounds, and even the smells (good ole ballpark fare).

Also interesting is that even though I tend to think of money more than many people (probably an understatement), I have no idea how much it cost to go to that game. It was probably a big expenditure to see that game, for me at that age. After all, I hadn’t even had my first summer job yet. But clearly I didn’t care much. Now that I’m older, I appreciate the memories even more. Can’t wait to take my own kids to ballgames, thought no skipping school will be allowed:)

Sometimes it’s so worth it to just spend the money, seize the moment, and go do what it is you want to do. Not always, but once in a while. If you pick carefully, those times can be priceless. In fact, like me, you won’t even remember or care about the costs involved.

My Questions for You:

Have you ever splurged to go to a big sporting event? Actually, let’s make it any live show, be it game, play, show, etc.
Since it’s the week of Opening Day, tell us – what’s your favorite baseball team?

Crazy Keywords

By Squirrelers 20 Comments

If you’re a blogger, and perhaps even if you’re not, you’ve probably been introduced to the topic of keywords. These of course play a role in determining sites that come up during web searches.

Though I’m an analytical person by nature and education, I try not to spend too much time on blog-related statistics. It can be a big time waster, despite being very interesting and at times very useful. You just have to pick your spots and spend time wisely when looking at the performance of your blog, considering all the other things to do….like writing blog posts, for example!

That said, I recently took a look at the analytics of my web traffic, to see what people are searching for when they find my site. Now, I already knew (as any blog owner does) what the most popular keywords were, but hadn’t spent time looking at the more obscure ones. You know, the keywords that are the one-off types that randomly bring someone using Google to a website.

Many of the search terms that brought just one visitor to Squirrelers were logical variations of personal finance-related topics that are covered here. Others were quite eye opening….and humorous as well.

Here are some of the “interesting” search terms that apparently led a few folks to Squirrelers

“How far do you need to take a squirrel to relocate?” Well, this website is about squirreling away money, not squirreling away squirrels! So the short answer is I don’t know.
“How can I dress as the prince song raspberry beret for Halloween?” My question is: How did that get somebody to Squirrelers?! My second question is: How do you dress as a song?
“Moving teen in the toilat”. Not sure what a “toilat” is, but YIKES anyway
“Most Cleaver holiday gifts 2010”. I recommend going to a Leave it to Beaver site for better guidance on that topic.
“Nothing brings me extreme excitement”. I’m sorry for this person!
“Kicking Mom for $400,000”. I’m sorry for this person’s Mom!”
“Wild Waitresses”. I’ve seen a crafty waitress, but never a wild one just yet
“Reason men leave 50% tip to waitresses”. Perhaps this has something to do with hoping for the item above?
“Play Pirates vs Ninjas and other things”. Wish I could help here, though I’ve never played that game with my kids.
“What kind of a teen am I?” Don’t know, sorry.
“Those who bring nothing to a potluck but eat like a pig”. I might be able to help by referring you to the post about The Extractor, to find out more about such characters
“Being a cheapskate & raising a family”. Ok, this blog is a good resource for answers to that question!
“Why don’t humans exterminate alligators?” Ok, this blog is not a good resource for answers to that question
“Wierd animals”. That’s a wierd – err, I mean weird thing to look for here!
“Rewarming breakfast tacos” I don’t recall ever posting anything about breakfast tacos. This sounds less than appetizing anyway!
“We gonna have lots of fun eating crayons” I appreciate the enthusiasm, but this sounds even less appetizing than rewarming breakfast tacos.
“Be easy and free when you’re drinking with me” Ok, while we’re on a positive and fun-loving roll here, I’ll quit while ahead 🙂

Clearly, it’s interesting how different people can find their way to a given website!

My Questions for You:

If you’re a blog owner, what are some of the craziest things people have searched for when reaching your site?
For everyone, blog owner or not – what’s the strangest place you’ve been directed to when using an unrelated or even innocuous search term?

A Time I Splurged and was Glad I Did

By Squirrelers 4 Comments

The following is a guest post from Money Sanity, about making the best of opportunities, living frugally, prioritizing, planning and preparing for an uncertain future. The post is part of Yakezie Blog Swap #3, with the topic “A time you splurged and were glad you did”.

Those who know me well describe me financially as frugal, cheap, a tightwad. I agree with all of those characterizations wholeheartedly. Since I don’t make big money and can’t spend tons of money like people I know, I need be frugal and save in order to get by. While most people are out buying designer clothing – in season, I am just as happy buying no name clothes on a holdover sale from the last season – with a coupon – from the markdown rack. This in some ways is a blessing as I don’t need a lot. Neither does my wife or children. While we all like material things, and probably wish we had more, none of us is materialistic.

But that said, it is not healthy to constantly be watching every penny, to have things so calculated down to the last cent. There needs to be times when it’s good to let loose and splurge on something that is completely frivolous and non- essential. For often these are the moments when you can be spontaneous and live a little bit more.

The thing I find myself splurging on, every now and then, is Taittinger Champagne – Brut, and dinner at a fine restaurant, and that’s what this story is all about.

The first time I had Taittinger Champaign was Valentine’s Day weekend 1987. I wanted to make it a special occasion for my girlfriend – future wife. We had been dating about a year, and on the previous Valentine’s Day 1986, I had bought her something, but we were not a couple at that time. So this was our first valentine’s day together and I wanted to show my affection and made reservations, at a nice restaurant, Bully Boy Chop House, Congers NY, and bought a bottle of Taittinger Champaign, which I knew was her favorite. Now at this time of my life, dinner at this restaurant and Champaign was a large financial sacrifice for me, a college student – probably about 2 weeks pay. So we ordered, two lobster tails and prime rib, and some appetizer that I can’t recall. 🙂

Whether or not the Champaign played a role, that night was magical, and worth every penny. We talked for hours and had a beautiful evening. Needless to say, the Bully Boy got a lot of business from us back then. Always ordering Lobster tails and prime rib that we could hardly afford and drinking a bottle of Taittinger Champaign. We married a few years later and the rest is history. Through the years and to this day, although we still can’t afford it, I treasure the maybe once, sometimes twice a year, when we get to go out to a nice restaurant, and bring an overpriced bottle of Taittinger, For doing so brings me right back to that night, when we were young, and didn’t have a care in the world.

Financial Windfall: What a Week!

By Squirrelers 27 Comments

Instant riches came my way in the last week. It was quite amazing.

What’s even more amazing is that it happened two times. Yes, lightning struck twice, and a pot of gold has resulted.

Windfall #1

Who would have thought that a Hong Kong entity would want to facilitate making me the beneficiary of an estate of people I’ve never met? I got this tragic yet spectacular email about how an Indonesian man passed away in an accident a few years back, and had left over $20 million dollars to no heirs.

Lo and behold, none other than your own Mr. Squirreler was selected to receive this sum of money. Yes, I received an email about this which spelled it out. As a “foreigner, I’ve been chosen to stand as next of kin to get the money. Who would have thought such an amazing thing could happen?

I just need to provide some personal information to them, and the process can commence. Amazing.

Windfall #2

As if the first surprise wasn’t enough, I got this wonderful email from a group out of France that told me that I have been chosen to receive $1 million USD as “charity donations/aid.” I have to simply email a bank in the United Kingdom for more details. One can presume from the email that this initial contact will set things in motion for this money to come to me. Yes!

How nice of them to give me the charity donations/aid, as they put it. I wonder how they found me and decided that I need this? Well, who wouldn’t want to be notified that they’re eligible to get $1 million dollars, right?

It’s just amazing, isn’t it?

What a stunning coincidence, both of these notifications within a week of each other. Can you imagine how lucky someone must be to have this happen? Two prizes totaling well over $20 million USD! To plain ole me! WOW!

Early retirement, here I come! Forget this Chicago cold. Time for a second home in the tropics! Maybe a third home in Europe would be nice, and a fourth home in Southeast Asia as well. You know, since this windfall came from those regions.

To think that such an incredible monetary award could be awarded via an email that hit my spam folder. Who would have ever thought this would be possible? What a country! No need to even think about an emergency fund! 🙂

My Questions for You:

What’s the silliest spam, international fortune email you’ve ever received?

Do you know anyone that ever thought that a ridiculous email like one of these I received could be legit? If yes, please tell me that person isn’t you! 🙂

photo credit: danielfoster437

Fun Fall Traditions

By Squirrelers 17 Comments

Is it “autumn”, or is it “fall”? What do you call it?

How one describes this season might depend on where you live. Where I live, here in the Midwest, most people tend to say fall. In literary or scientific context, it’s generally referred to as autumn. This term is used in Great Britain, as well.

Just as we may have different names for the season, we also have different traditions during the season as well. Some of these traditions can be inexpensive, and some can be quite pricey.

We recently went apple picking, as part of tradition that we’re building. For the last 4 years, we have gone to local apple orchards to partake in the fun of getting food straight from nature. In the last 2 years, we have gone to a place which is about a 40 minute drive, so perhaps it’s not “local”, but it’s well worth the drive.

While there, we forked over $55 to pick apples and enjoy the festivities. Yes, that might seem like a lot of money, and it probably is if you just consider the apples.

Just how many apples did we pick up? 52, to be exact. So, if you calculate the cost on a per apple basis, it’s $1.06 each. Yes, I know, you can get them for less money at the grocery store. Plus, you don’t have to work for them either.

However, that work where the fun is. When you’re out there pushing a little cart, carrying your daughter with you, and seeing her face light up with excitement as we scour the trees for the “best” looking apples, it becomes worth it. It’s great family fun, getting excited our great finds, talking about the different varieties of apples (over a dozen at this orchard), and spending time outside. Additionally, it’s always neat for kids – especially those living in suburban or urban areas – to see food come directly from the source. It helps them learn to appreciate the value of natural, healthy foods.

Beyond the experience of picking the apples, the cost also included lots of delicious hot apple cider and tasty apple cider donuts. For kids, there was a a fun play area with a maze, petting zoo, and face painting.

When you add it all up, it’s not just the apples you get for your money, but the overall experience that builds family bonds and creates memories.

Money well spent!

Many fall traditions, on the other hand, can get quite pricey. For example, going to a pro or college football game can cost a lot of money, when you add up tickets, parking, and concessions. Another example is Halloween parties for grown-ups, where folks dress up in elaborate costumes and enjoy of evening of drinks and laughs. The last Hallowen party I went to, in 2008, cost well over $100 between the costumes and drinks.

I’d rather go to the apple orchard. Maybe it’s becuase of where I’m at in life these days:)

Do you have any similar fall traditions that you partake in each year? Are they a good value, or do you just splurge on some things?

Will Work – or Etch-A-Sketch for Food

By Squirrelers 3 Comments

I just came across an interesting online ad, this one by Red Robin – the national hamburger chain. In case you haven’t been there, it’s not a fast food place, but a regular restaurant that has a large variety of burgers, plus salads and other items. Kids like it – including at times, I have to admit, this 39-year old kid with 2 kids:)

Anyway, they have this interesting contest going on where you apparently take a photo of your own Etch-A-Sketch drawing of a burger, and send it in to them for a chance at a prize.

Etch-A-Sketch, for those that don’t know, is one of the classic, great All-American toys from the 20th century. It consists of a flat gray screen of powder, on which you can “draw” by turning two knobs that move a stylus up and down. The screen is housed in a ubiquitous red case. Most kids I know of my generation probably had one. I remember mine, as I got it when I was a little kid. I would try to draw things like cars, planes, and other objects that appealed to little boys at the time. Funny, I don’t recall ever trying to draw a hamburger and am not sure I could have either, though I ate them on occasion.

Sidebar story here, since hamburgers are a part of this discussion: one of my funniest (now) childhood memories was trying to avoid eating a hamburger when I was 5 years old. I didn’t want to eat the one that my mom made for me that day, so when she walked out of the kitchen area where I was eating, I proceeded to tear the burger into little pieces and “hide” it throughout the kitchen pantry in hopes that she would think I ate it. I think I actually thought I would get away with it. Needless to say, somehow my mom figured out what was going on and I got in trouble:) I would like to believe that my sweet 6 year old daughter has not pulled something like that on me yet…

Anyway, back to the contest. It appears that you’re supposed to take a photo of an Etch-A-Sketch drawing of your favorite Red Robin burger, and send it in to them. The top 50 “artists” across age categories will get an Etch-A-Sketch and a $50 Red Robin gift card.

Innovative and clever marketing, I think.

Speaking of contests, have there been any unique contests or sweepstakes of which you have been a part? Have you won anything really fun or valuable – cash or otherwise – in such a contest?