Money Green Life

In light of planning for the wedding, I just opened Discover Bank online savings account. There were so many to choose from, such as Everbank and Ally, and also ING Direct. I chose Discover Bank due to their high yield rate and low initial deposit to get things started. Since this is my short term solution to help me save money for my wedding and honeymoon, I wanted to open Everbank, which offers 1.51% average for the first year. But I could not afford the $1,500 initial deposit. I’m still kicking myself in the head because I believe I budgeted well for the engagement ring, but poorly for the wedding.

I plan to dump all of the money I save every month in this new account. This savings account along with tax returns and potential additional tax benefits for filing jointly will help me reach my financial goal to help pay for the wedding and honeymoon.

Update (July 9, 2010)

When you sign up for Discover Bank Online Savings Account, you’ll start accruing interest immediately at 1.35% apr. To read my full review on other high-yield online savings account, read my previous post entitled, Highest Rate High-Yield Savings Account. You’ll be required to fund your account of at least $500. I funded my account by simply providing my bank information. I plan on starting out with $500 and depositing whatever amount I save every month into this account. If I save $1 this month, that’s the amount I will transfer. Also, one thing I wasn’t very clear on was online access to my account. Apparently, when you sign up for the savings account, you don’t create a user name and password. You have to register your account at Discover Bank Online Access Account. They don’t give you your full account number until your funds are fully transferred, in which they will send you a welcoming kit with the account number included. So, today, I received an email saying that my funds have been fully transferred and that the welcoming kit has been sent. It’s a little annoying, but sometimes, to save money, it becomes annoying.

I’m in a unique situation where getting married will actually benefit me in terms of tax returns. Typically, when two people get married, they will have to pay a small marriage tax fee when they file jointly, mainly because of dual income status. But for me, my fiancee is a student and currently has zero income. When we get married early next year, I’ll be the sole source of income so there will be some tax benefit for both of us when we file jointly. Whether we get married in January or June or December, it does not matter because the benefit will kick in for the entire calendar year for the year we are married. Since we are deciding to get married in 2011, we’ll only see tax benefits for 2011 and so on, provided that she does not work full time. If, however, we decide to push the wedding forward and get married in December 2010, we’ll take advantage of the tax benefit for the entire 2010. So, with that said, how much is the tax benefit and is it worth the effort of getting married early? Read the rest of this entry »

I asked my girlfriend to be my wife and she said…YES! Now comes the stress and agony of preparing for the wedding! I just came back from a friend’s wedding this past weekend and it was a lot of fun. They told me that they spent about $23,000 for the entire wedding and reception for about 230 people, equating to $100/head. This is I think pretty reasonable. They were able to get a massive discount for having the wedding in the middle of a holiday weekend, which I might have to consider for my wedding.
Read the rest of this entry »

I finally bought my diamond for the engagement ring. It’s a beauty and I think I got a real good price for it. If you haven’t done your homework, finding the perfect ring can be a very stressful ordeal even when you know all the characteristics you’re looking for in the diamond. Knowing the four C’s of the diamond is a good start, but oftentimes, if you want that perfect diamond, you need to go above and beyond the four C’s.

The diamond I bought is a 1.20 Carat, cushion Cut, G Color, and VS1 Clarity. This completes the 4 C’s category, but there were so many diamonds with these exact specifications that varied in price drastically from one diamond to another. I had to believe that there were other factors that affected the price of the diamond, beyond the 4 C’s. For each of the different cuts available in a diamond, the perfect specifications beyond the 4 C’s vary for different type of cuts.

Measurements

For the cushion cut, the more square the diamond is, the better it is. Some prefer more elongated shape, but that can be reserved for other cuts, such as pear, emerald, oval, and marquise cuts. The less square the cuts are, the less the quality of the diamond becomes.

Depth and Table Ratio

The depth and table of the diamond are important factors to consider because they help reflect the light back to your eye to maximize the sparkling effect. If these ratios are not within a good range, the diamond will lose the sparkling effect and the quality of the diamond will become less. The depth ratio is the ratio of the total depth and the total width (or diameter). The table ratio is the ratio of the total table width and the total width (or diameter). The numbers you should look for differs for each type of cut.

Fluorescence

If the diamond has any fluorescence effect, it loses quality value. You want to avoid diamonds with fluorescence. Under natural light conditions, diamonds by nature give off a blue hue and can be more evident under a UV lamp (or black light). The more blue it gives off, the lower the quality of the diamond. Fluoresce will interfere with the flow of light in higher color grades and should be avoided at all costs.

Polish and Symmetry

Look for “Very Good” or “VG” under polish and symmetry. Anything beyond that, the diamond will lose its brilliance. If you have to go lower, then “Good” should be the absolute minimum. I wouldn’t even bother looking at other ratings lower than that. Polish and symmetry mean exactly what you think they mean. The better polished the diamond is, the better the diamond it will be. The more symmetrical the diamond is, the better the diamond it will be.

Buy Your Diamond Online

I would highly recommend buying your diamond online. Not only is it much cheaper than buying it from your local jewelry store, the range of selections of diamonds is unlimited. Perhaps, that’s why I struggled so much purchasing my diamond. But I am confident to say that the diamond I purchased is the perfect diamond I was looking for. I recommend buying from Blue Nile. They’re not the cheapest in the world of web shopping, but they are competitive. Also, if you use your Discover Card and shop through their shopping portal, you can earn 5% cash back on your purchase. So, if you make a $5,000 purchase, you will receive $250 cash back if you use ShopDiscover portal through Discover.com. If you don’t have a Discover Card, you can sign up here.

You can read up on other posts in the Diamond Buying Experience Series:

The Four C’s

Examining The Certificates

Beyond The Four C’s

This is a continuation of my previous post on my Diamond Buying Experience Series. You can refer to my previous post on the Four C’s of a diamond. Once you have the basics of the diamond all figured out, examining the diamond report is very important as well. A diamond report or certificate is an official document that proves the validity and the proof of the diamond. It provides all of the necessary grades for each of the important aspects that make up the integrity and quality of the diamond, including the four C’s as mentioned previously. More importantly, it indicates all of the necessary dimensions of the crystal as well as the location of the imperfections and blemishes inside the diamond. It’s for these reasons why it is important to look  and examine the certificate carefully.

As you can see on the sample picture on the right, all of the different types of imperfections indicated on the diagram. Ideally, you don’t want any blemishes, but that can be very costly and expensive. But if you can find a diamond with blemishes on the side of the diamond (girdle), then that would be the next best thing. The diagram is an excerpt from a sample GIA report. Every report from different grading institutions are different and provide different information. They each have their own grading system so it’s very hard to compare them side by side.

GIA

GIA stands for Gemological Institute of America, is the world’s foremost authority in gemology, diamond grading, jewelry education, and gemology research. If you’re looking for a diamond, make sure that it is graded by GIA. They are the most accurate and reliable source for diamond grading. There are other institutions out there such as AGS, ELG AGA, and HRD, but I wouldn’t recommend any of them. You can learn more about other laboratories here.

You can read up on other posts in the Diamond Buying Experience Series:

The Four C’s

Examining The Certificates

Beyond The Four C’s