Money

Black Friday 2008 arrives early at Amazon.com

In Deals, Money on 25 November 2008 with no comments

I’m not much of a shopper, but if you are, check out Amazon.com for Black Friday 2008 Deals and skip those insane lines!

Also, Amazon.com Customers Vote is going on now!

Customers Vote is a special end-of-year promotion where you and your site visitors can vote for the deal you’d like to buy at an amazing discount. There will be six rounds of voting with three products in each round. Beginning Thursday, November 27, 2008 each day a new winning product will be announced, and randomly selected customers who voted in that round will receive an invitation to participate in the race to buy the winning product.

This promotion will end on 11:59:59 p.m. on December 4th, 2008.

Disclaimer: I’ll get a tiny percentage of items purchased through these Amazon.com links.

I need your help

In Life, Money, Photography on 3 September 2008 with 7 comments

I’ve been enthusiastic about photography these past eight months. (Why?)

January - bought my first digital SLR camera; joined 2008: A Year in Pictures (which means one photo/day for 2008)
February - bought a Canon EF f/1.8 II lens from Arnold
March - sort of photographed at a Chiodos concert (photos)
April - photographed a Finch concert at the Roxy without a photo pass (photos); photographed another Finch concert in San Diego, this time with a photo pass (photos); photographed Armer and Tracy (Arnold’s friends) for pre-wedding photos
May - bought a Canon EOS 40D; Five Mile Town photoshoot (photos); my first paid event (photos); bought parts for and put together a new computer
June - went to Hawaii and took a couple thousand photos (photos)
July - photographed a Five Mile Town concert; participated in a peaceful photographers’ rights protest (photos)
August - photographed a Rx Bandits concert with a photo pass (photos); bought a Drobo

In addition to all that, I’ve photowalked almost twenty times¹.

However, I need help addressing the following problems ASAP.

Problems

Currently, I have equipment worth over $2,000. If my camera/computer dies, or if I need more hard drive space, I don’t have money saved for that. I also don’t have money for additional hard drives - I’m currently using 188 GB just for photos and Lightroom catalogs. In addition, I’d like more lenses to expand my photographic abilities.

I’m a struggling student going back to school in January 2009², which means I’ll be getting a loan.

I’m in debt due to credit cards³, which add up to at least $4,000.

Lastly, I don’t have an emergency fund or a savings account.

How you can help

Buy some prints. I love compliments, but it won’t help keep me going if I don’t have funds for upgrades and new equipment.
Request for photography services. I’ll do a photo session with you: portraits, family portraits (Christmas is around the corner!), senior portraits, events, or be a second/third photographer for your wedding⁴. I also love band photography. I pretty much love portraits in general, can you tell?

Whether or not you’re able to help me monetarily, I really appreciate the love and support you’ve given me this past year. I won’t forget. You all inspire me to improve.

with more than one person ↩
assuming Cal Poly Pomona accepts me ↩
not entirely my fault, it’s a long story that I don’t want to be public ↩
not enough experience to be the primary photographer - yet ↩

New Spy Steady MC sunglasses

In Deals, Life, Money on 23 May 2008 with 3 comments

I only seem to buy sunglasses when it’s a ridiculous deal. My current ones were a pair that my Dad didn’t wear anymore. Before that, I had Anarchy Kronos that were a shade of blue — they weren’t my favorite. (I lost those.)

Late Wednesday night¹, I saw a post on Passwird.com (run by my friend, Irwin) for Spy Steady MC sunglasses for about 21 bucks shipped.

So, I jumped on it. Then today, they’re here! (No Fear’s online store ships out of Carlsbad. That went well for me, huh?

If you want to see what stock might be left, I’ve copy and pasted the text below:

SPY MC and Richelle Sunglasses $20.99 shipped at NoFear Store!

The NoFear Online Store has SPY MC and Richelle Sunglasses at $19.99 - $5 off promo code NFINSIDER + ~$6 shipping (more or less depending on location) = $20.99. Features: 100% UV Protection. All sales are final. No returns. NOFEAR

Next lowest price on PriceGrabber is $77.98 (”MC” style).

I’ll take a self-portrait and upload it when I can.

Technically Thursday morning ↩

Canon Rebates are here

In Deals, Gear, Money, Photography on 19 May 2008 with 1 comment

Thanks to Jean, I found out that Amazon’s price for the Canon EOS 40D (body only) dropped to $959.94.

If you bought it (or any other item from Amazon) within the past 30 days, Amazon has a price drop policy.¹

Otherwise, here’s a list of the Canon items that have rebates from May 18th, 2008 until July 19th, 2008:

[via unwir3d]

I signed up for my 40D through the Refund Please service, but I didn’t get an email from them like I was supposed to. Lame. ↩

The Canon EOS 40D LCD screen is tough!

In Gear, Money, Photography on 7 May 2008 with 1 comment

I was thinking of buying an LCD screen protector for my new Canon EOS 40D, but after some research, it’s not necessary.

The LCD for the 40D isn’t responsive to touch like a PDA or iPhone — it’s already protected. Also, it’s a waste of money to buy those other protectors. You’ll sacrifice some screen visibility, and the replacement parts cost about $20 anyway.

CB3-3763-000 - TFT Display Window
CB3-3764-000 - Double Sided Tape

Canon Parts Center: (732) 531-7230

Sources: photo.net, Canon EOS 40D Users Flickr group

Received my DTV coupons

In Ask the Readers, Money, TV on 19 March 2008 with 2 comments

A week ago, I got my DTV coupons in the mail. (See DTV Answers.) They expire late in May, so I’ll wait until then (in case the current converter boxes improve).

If you got yours, when will you use them?

Luzviminda phone cards are full of lies

In Business, Money on 21 December 2007 with 1 comment

Don’t get these cheap phone cards from Luzviminda, or whoever else that’s similar.

Mom was ranting yesterday because her phone card had a measly nine minutes on it, instead of the hour it should have.

Wait, she had three phone cards that did the same thing.

My solution to her would be a prepaid Skype card from Wal-Mart, which I’ll get her soon enough. (Christmas is around the corner.)

Calls from here in California to the Philippines range from $0.198 to $0.249 USD.

4 Tips for a Better Online Buying Experience

In Business, Internet, Money, Security on 19 September 2007 with 2 comments

A co-worker was asking me on digital camera suggestions, but rather than buying her camera through a reputable online reseller like Amazon.com or Newegg, she went to Fry’s Electronics.

Why? She’s scared of buying stuff online. She also prefers to see and touch it before buying it.

Go to the store and check it out - but don’t buy it from there. Write down the product name and model number, then search for prices online. Pricegrabber is awesome. Frucall is another nifty service that allows you to do “free comparison shopping with your cell phone when you’re in a store.”
How do you know if the reseller is honest? Pricegrabber has their seller rating, or ResellerRatings would be another website to check.
If you’re ordering online, make sure the URL in the address bar starts with https.
Printing the purchase confirmation page? PDFCreator will help you save trees for free.

There’s other factors involved, such as the return policy, where the item(s) are shipping from, or if tax will be included. You’ll need to visit the online reseller’s website for those details.

The more you do this, the quicker the process becomes. For me, Newegg, Mwave, and Amazon are my main three spots before setting foot in a store.

Did I miss anything?

Help Organs ‘R’ Us at The Relay

In Health, Money on 2 May 2007 with no comments

One of my co-workers, Greg, sent this email to all the staff here at Public Counsel. I should have posted this right after I received it 12 days ago:

As some of you know, when I am not working in HPLP I do quite a lot of running. I am the captain of a team that is running in a very long relay race the first weekend in May.

The race is a 199 mile, 12-member team run from Calistoga in Napa Valley to the beach in Santa Cruz, promoting donation through Organs ‘R’ Us (”ORU”). This is a great organization that raises money for the 90,000 Americans (including 2,500 children) waiting for organs, 18 of which die each day before a donor is found. Information on the race and the organization can be found at www.therelay.com.

Your change from lunch one day or change from under the couch is fantastic and greatly appreciated.

How to get what you want

In Business, How-to, Money on 2 May 2007 with 1 comment

I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but how do you get what you want? Just ask! The worst someone can say is “no.” Well, they could add a terrible expletive, then verbally abuse you. Technically, it’s still “no” — an elaborate “no.”

Think about it this way: they could say “yes!”

Other than professional poker players and women, nobody can read your mind! You need to voice what you want.

Story

I have Custom Checking with Wells Fargo. Months ago, I wanted to try their Bill Pay service. It was free for a month or something, then $6.95 after that. If I had direct deposit, then it’d be free. I thought their system would automatically figure it out, but I was naive to think that. Bryan, you’re a moron!

Today, I finally took action and called to cancel Bill Pay. Fortunately, the banker told me that if I switched to Custom Management Checking:

Bill Pay is free
the account fee is waived if either of the following are true: direct deposit is setup for over $100/month, or I have a $1000 minimum daily balance

Without hesitation, I accepted the account changes. That’s awesome!

Since I’ve had direct deposit through work for awhile, I also asked if he could credit the Bill Pay fees from the last few months. I was expecting only one month, but he said he could credit the last three months. High five! Yes!

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