Returned Check

Checking my online bank accounts today, saw a charge that immediately looked odd. There were two charges in my checking account, actually: "Returned Check" and "Returned Check Fee." My initial reaction was that someone had tried to cash a check I wrote, and I had insufficient funds in my account. However, I also knew I had overdraft protection on the account and my account balance was not near $0. After thinking about it for a minute and calling my bank, I realized that a personal check someone had written to me for $14 was "bad" (the check writer had insufficient funds in his account), and so the two charges to my account were a debit of $14 (which had initially been credited to my account) and a $5 returned check fee. This made me unhappy for a few reasons. First, I hate to lose $5 (and this fee was clearly outlined among the credit union's fees, so I knew it was no bogus). Second, I hate to lose money and get punished for someone else's mistake. Lastly, I only accepted this check because I was out at lunch with this guy and a group of others, and the guy didn't have any cash on him. I agreed to cover his tab in cash and he wrote me the check.

Ultimately, after I thought through the situation, I determined that the banks themselves have little to do with the situation except handling the details of the transaction. Ultimately, all that matters is that one guy owes me money and that he hasn't paid me. I guess if the amount were $14,000 instead of $14, I could take the guy to court and sue him, but obviously this won't come to that. I suppose I've learned the value of getting a certified check or money order or some other guaranteed source of money when dealing when larger transactions (and not relying on a personal check being "good").

Cool laptop at bargain price

When I was checking the Best Deals on Amazon.com recently, I ran across a steal on a product I had first seen a few weeks ago, the ASUS Eee PC 4G. Asus is a major Taiwanese producer of computers and computer parts, though it has little name recognition in the U.S. This little laptop will probably not compete heavily with or replace most standard laptops on the market today. First, it is tiny, with a 7" screen and weighs just over 2 pounds. The small size also means a small keyboard, which may not appeal to those with big hands. The laptop is also not the fastest thing around, with a 900 MHz processor which is actually underclocked to around 630 MHz. It comes with 512 MB of RAM, which can be easily upgraded. Also, because of its small size, it doesn't include an optical (CD/DVD) drive, though it has plenty of USB ports, making it easy to use a USB drive with the machine. This laptop comes with a fairly tiny hard drive by modern standards, but this may be where this laptop gets most interesting. Its 4 GB hard drive is solid state, which means it has no moving parts, unlike a traditional hard drive. A solid state drive has several advantages over its traditional cousin. First, it is less likely to "crash" or fail since it has no moving parts, making the laptop much more resilient to shocks. Also, the drive can operate faster, since it is not limited by how fast its parts can spin. It can better withstand temperature changes and operates virtually silently. Undoubtedly, solid state drives are the hard drives of the future. The problem of hard drive space can be solved by buying an inexpensive (around $35) 8GB secure digital (SD) memory card, which can plug in the SD slot included in the PC.

If this laptop doesn't replace a standard, modern laptop or a desktop, what good is it? Two things: price and portability. First, it is now priced under $400, which is pretty insane for any new computer, desktop or laptop. As I mentioned above, 2 GB of RAM and 8GB of solid state memory can be added to this machine for about $70 total, making it quite versatile. Second, you can't beat this machine's portability. It comes with Windows XP, a familiar operating system to almost any PC user, and includes both ethernet and built-in Wi-Fi internet access, making it the ultimate, portable internet machine. It is the perfect laptop for taking on vacation or on business travel, since it allows the user to check email and perform nearly every function one would use on a regular laptop or desktop.

It is understandable that ASUS would drop its price on this laptop, since it recently released a replacement, the Eee PC 12G. The newer machine, for about $150 more, solves many of the problems and limitations of its predecessor. It has a bigger screen (8.9" vs. 7") with higher resolution (1024x600 vs. 800x480), bigger solid state drive (12GB vs. 4GB), double the RAM (1GB vs. 512 MB) and a faster processor (fully 900 MHz vs. underclocked at 630MHz). The new laptop still comes with the built-in SD slot, meaning you can add 8 GB of solid state memory for around $35, or 16GB for around $65. Though not noticeably heavier than its predecessor, the 12G price tag puts it in line with bargain-priced, larger laptops. Still, this laptop is definitely worth a second look as a portable, nearly do-it-all, light-weight second computer.

Another Product I love from Google

Google offers a host of great online products (gmail, Google Earth, calendar, Google Scholar, maps, etc.) and I have grown to love two in particular: Gmail and Google Calendar. When at home I use Mozilla Thunderbird as my email client, but when away from my computer, I forward all my mail to a Gmail account for easy reading. The alternative would be using my school webmail, which can take minutes just to load my inbox.

The other day, I found another great Google product. I had been using Yahoo! Finance to track stock and ETF quotes, as well as get financial news (some of which I blog about). The problem was that I used Yahoo! Finance plus a somewhat organized Word document record of my stock trades every time I wanted to check on the status of parts of my portfolio. I could always view my portfolio status online at Zecco, my brokerage, but their format for displaying my equity positions was confusing. It was not their fault entirely. My biggest position I had bought at another brokerage then transferred to Zecco. As a result, it was nearly impossible to track the history of my portfolio.

This is where Google Finance comes to the rescue. Using the username and password I already used for Gmail and Google Calendar, I quickly input all the information about what I owned and the price at which I bought it. Now, Google Finance clearly displays the cost basis for every position, its market value (using real-time quotes), the change (in dollars and percentage) for the day and for its life in my portfolio. Additionally, news stories concerning my stocks are updated throughout the day and I even like Google's interactive charts better than Yahoo!'s The one advantage of Yahoo! is that it provides better personal finance columns and news, but I am glad I found this simple tool from one of my favorite online empires.

Next Greatest Thing in Home Entertainment?

Whenever I read personal finance blogs, people always seem willing to pay for some kind of televised entertainment, whether its cable, satellite, iTunes show downloads, in-store DVD rentals, or DVDs by mail. Some particularly value-conscious TV watchers have given up cable and satellite for free over-the-air analog and digital channels. Some simply watch free programming available from a number of sources, such as the major networks' (CBS, ABC, Fox, NBC) websites. Often, when I miss an episode of Lost , I'll watch it the following day from ABC.com. The quality is good, with streaming HD available on the most recent seasons, but I still prefer watching shows on my TV.
Netflix, though a partnership with a small company called Roku, is trying to bridge the gap between the computer and TV in a way that other devices like Apple TV have been unable to do on a mass scale.

Announced last week, the Netflix Player by Roku allows Netflix subscribers with plans costing at least $7.99 to stream an unlimited number of TV shows and movies from their PC to a TV connected to the player. The player connects to virtually any TV via HDMI, component cables, s-video or RCA ports (red, white, yellow). The box connects to your computer via ethernet or Wi-Fi, with a faster connection (read, ethernet) producing generally better picture quality. The box is value-priced at only $99 and simple to install and operate, according to news accounts.

The main drawbacks appear to be three-fold. First, the streaming Netflix library the device draws from, about 10,000 titles, is still fairly limited, especially with newer releases. I've heard most of the movie titles available were released 5 or more years ago. This is to be expected, since it would be hard to fathom Netflix offering unlimited viewing of the latest releases. Second, because the device only streams content from a computer (it has no hard drive), picture quality can be spotty and is limited by one's internet connection. Plus, movie viewing can be interrupted by the device having to buffer during times of slow internet connection. Obviously, a hi-speed internet connection is required and I think you need at least a 1 Mbps speed, but obviously, the higher the better. I read that the device offers three bit rates, with the highest at 2.2 Mbps, and that it automatically detects your connection speed. Lastly, though the box is capable of receiving and outputting an HD signal, Netflix does not currently offer any HD streaming content. Even if it did, the previous streaming speed problems would certainly come into play. In all likelihood, internet connections would have to see a big across-the-board jump in speed before streaming HD would be a viable option with the Roku box.

I don't subscribe to Netflix, but my girlfriend does, so this box, despite its flaws, seems like a welcome addition to her TV cabinet. It is fairly inexpensive (especially if you are already a Netflix subscriber and if you can use it to offset any other entertainment spending like cable TV altogether). It is easy to setup, which is a huge plus for her. She is like a lot of people in that she just wants devices to work without much fuss. She also is not such a stickler for video quality as much as I am. The biggest drawbacks for her, and I think for most people, are the limited content and the possibility of waiting for video to buffer. Still, for $99, this device sounds like a bargain worth investigating and I can only imagine what type of further innovation this device may bring.

Transportation Continued

I was happy to find gas cheaper last night than I first thought. Driving back into town Sunday, the first "cheap" gas stations I saw were charging $3.999 for regular. Fortunately, I paid $3.799 last night using a site called gasbuddy.com to check local prices before I left home. I was also again pleased with the mileage on my last tank: close to 30 mpg (which is the EPA estimate for highway driving on my nine-year-old car). I added a new feature to the blog on the right column tracking this information. Note: gas prices are per gallon and rounded to the nearest cent.

The local paper again today had an article on how bus ridership is up in my area, with a lot of people who wouldn't ordinarily consider riding the bus buying their first bus pas. The article also mentioned one couple who have taken to living apart during the middle of the week (not coming home at night) so that they can save gas. That would be tough on me personally, but I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. The problem is the I think we are in “desperate times” for good now.

In my town, we are somewhat fortunate with one of the best bus systems in the area. Buses here are entirely supported by tax dollars and there is no additional fare for riding. While the Libertarian in me bemoans the $100 a year I pay in student fees to support the bus system, from a public policy perspective, this system undoubtedly makes the town a more attractive place to live, allows low-income people a good method of transportation, keeps more cars off the roads and improves air quality.

Perhaps this run-up in gas prices is what is finally needed to get us as a whole to shift toward more fuel-efficient options, like smaller cars, bikes, carpooling and public transportation. It all but seems inevitable, since I don't think gas prices will recede substantially anytime soon. It wouldn't surprise me if within a few years, most families drove small cars getting mileage in the upper 30s, garaging or just renting larger vans/trucks/SUVs/station wagons for occasional hauling or road trips. One of the biggest impediments to people buying smaller (more fuel-efficient) cars seems to be that so many people still drive big cars/SUVs and new car buyers do not want to risk their lives driving a less-safe smaller car. This is a main reason my brother likes Jeeps and won’t buy a smaller vehicle. What happens is that the new car buyer ends up buying a larger vehicle and the process becomes a vicious cycle. Hopefully gas prices will break this cycle, but one possibility is that the government might have to offer an incentive to drive smaller cars or disincentive to drive larger SUVs.

P.S.
In nearly every political science class I've taken (and I'm a poli sci major), we've discussed game theory so I thought I would take this opportunity to point out how buying big vehicles is in some ways a Prisoner's Dilemma. Though not a perfect example, generally speaking, most people would be better off if everyone would buy smaller (more fuel-efficient) cars. Individually, they would spend less on gas because of their efficiency savings, and prices in general would likely drop because of an aggregate drop in demand. The problem is that individually, it is in each side's best interest to buy a big vehicle for safety. Let's simplify this to Jim and Sally, two people in the market for new cars. We'll look at Jim first. Jim knows he wants to be safe (one of his top criteria for a new car) and he knows that if Sally buys a big vehicle, he wants to buy a big vehicle, because he doesn't want to be killed if his small vehicle gets hit with Sally's big vehicle. Even if Sally buys a small vehicle, Jim still wants a big vehicle, because now he will be even safer in a crash with Sally. Sally will make a similar decision and both will end up with big vehicles, whereas they both would have been better off buying small vehicles. However, they can not trust each other to buy small vehicles. They need some third-party action to keep them both from buying big vehicles. This is where I'm hoping the high price of gas (or possibly, the government, though the chances of that are slim) will force both Jim and Sally to buy small vehicles.

Alternative Transportation

I returned from the beach yesterday, arriving home with my tank nearly empty. I avoided filling up anywhere near the beach because I was convinced gas prices would be cheaper inland. Was I ever wrong. When I left for the beach a week ago, gas was around $3.78 per gallon. I filled up once at the beach for around $3.80. I return yesterday to find gas at $3.999 (Four Dollars!). I am hoping prices will drop slightly after the Memorial Day weekend.

Regardless of my minimal success in attaining better gas mileage (checked my tire pressures before I left yesterday and used cruise control most of the way back), gas this expensive makes me wonder about alternatives. Apparently, I'm not the only one. Last month, Toyota sold its one-millionth Prius, the preeminent mass-market gas-electric hybrid. In my area, bus ridership rose by double digit figures in the same month.

Also last month, for one of my video journalism classes, I shot a story about the owner and driver of a restored 1964 Vespa scooter. The woman who owns it bought it about two years ago, largely for the appeal of classic Vespas and aesthetics as much as gas savings, but recently, she said the fuel savings are unbelievable. She estimated the scooter with a two-gallon tank gets around 70 miles per gallon. She couldn't remember spending more than $5 to fill her scooter tank, whereas she easily spends $40 to fill her car gas tank when taking longer trips or when she needs to haul cargo.

One of the reasons I decided to work on this story was the appeal of scooters from a value perspective. Obviously, they are cheaper to buy than most cars, use little fuel and parking is generally cheaper, quicker and easier than with a car. I told my subject I imagine that if I have a twin out there from whom I was separated at birth, he owns a scooter; I figure he is just as value-conscious as I am, but has fewer inhibitions and is a little wilder. I can't see myself owning a scooter now (for one, I think my mother would kill me), but depending on where I end up working after college and the state of gas prices, it may be a viable alternative to firing up the car every time I want to go across town.

Guess who else feels pain at the pump

As depressing as gas prices appear these days, I knew gas station owners/operators (especially independents) weren’t reaping the windfall profits. However, this is a new twist. I knew that station owners tended to make a larger profit on a bottle of water than a tank of gas, but the credit card fees associated with charging customers never occurred to me. Even as oil companies like Exxon and Chevron make record profits, local competition and limited choices of supply tend to limit local station profits.

It seems like everybody pays for gas with credit cards these days, and for good reason. In the old days of paying with cash (back when a $20 bill would buy a tank of gas plus a bag of chips), customers would generally only put $5, $10, $20 of gas into the tank. Of course, this is inefficient compared to actually filling your tank and paying the cost, regardless of the required uneven change. Also, credit cards are safer to carry than cash and offer rewards. Gas cards in particular tend to have special deals, and it seems like most major gas brand credit cards are offering even sweater deals- like 10% off for 60 days with no annual fee. As the article mentions, however, credit card companies do not offer these rewards from their philanthropic arms- they pass on the costs directly to gas station owners, cutting into most of their profit margin. I don’t have a solution for station owners, but it is just something to think about when visiting the pump or pondering the wonders of those little plastic cards.